ISLANDERS will have the legal right to end their lives in certain defined circumstances following a landmark vote in the States.
Politicians voted on Wednesday by 31 to 15 to establish an assisted dying service for adult residents who have made a voluntary and informed decision to die.
It is expected that there will be a further 18-month implementation period, meaning the earliest the law could come into effect will be spring or summer 2027.
The service will be open to people with a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months, or 12 months if they have a neurodegenerative disease (known as route one).
But someone with an incurable physical condition which might not be terminal but is causing them unbearable suffering (known as route two) will not be eligible, after States Members rejected this part of the proposition, with 19 in favour and 27 against.
Health professionals will be able to opt-out, giving them a right to refuse to participate.
There will also be minimum time-frames between the first formal request for an assisted death and the act itself – 14 days.
