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Assisted suicide in Guernsey 'depends on UK'

Hunter Adam
Deputy Adam said the department was not currently investigating

Guernsey's approach to the issue of assisted suicide will depend on progress made in the UK, the health minister has said.

Deputy Hunter Adam said it was not something the department was currently monitoring the situation in the UK.

He said if the laws were changed, there would have to be careful consideration about how to protect vulnerable people.

Author Sir Terry Pratchett has reopened debate in the UK, arguing assisted suicide should be legalised.

Deputy Adam said: "At some point in the future I think it will come into the law in the UK, but at the present time it's very much in the balance.

"We always have to be aware that to bring in legislation it must be sufficiently robust to protect those that might be considered vulnerable, those people that feel they're a nuisance, a bother to their relatives etc. instead of a true desire for some specific reason.

"The terminal ill are one example where I think there should be the choice for the individual."

The moves in the UK have prompted calls for a survey to gauge islanders' views on the subject.



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