My Death, My Decision (NI) has urged MLAs to engage with the debate around assisted dying after a vote was passed in the Republic.
MDMDNI welcomed the positive outcome of the recent Dail vote in support of the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Assisted Dying.
The volunteer-led advocacy group campaigns for the introduction of voluntary assisted dying legislation in Northern Ireland.
Politicians in the Republic voted to note a final report by a committee on assisted dying, which calls on the government to legalise assisted dying in certain restricted circumstances.
A total of 76 TDs voted in favour of the report, with 53 TDs voting against it in the Dáil on Wednesday evening.
The vote will not change the law in the Republic of Ireland.
Such legislation would have to be passed by the Oireachtas and then signed by the President.
The Special Oireachtas Joint Committee on Assisted Dying published a 96-page report last March, which included 38 recommendations.
The recommendations included the establishment of an independent body to oversee all assisted dying applications and increased funding for palliative care.
Speaking after the vote, MDMDNI Chair Gavin Walker said: “While this was a non-binding vote, it expresses the position of the Dail and greatly increases the likelihood of voluntary assisted dying being included in the next Programme for Government.
“The Recommendations from the Joint Committee specifically extend the right of eligibility to all Irish citizens (Recommendation 25).
“If enacted upon, this immediately creates a serious human-rights challenge as northern-based Irish citizens travelling to the Republic to assist a fellow citizen in completing their wish for a voluntary assisted death will – upon returning to Northern Ireland – find themselves subject to arrest, possible prosecution and 14 years imprisonment for aiding a suicide.
“As such, apart from the obvious need for a political debate on the issue of voluntary assisted dying in Northern Ireland, this unsustainable position requires to be urgently addressed.
Mr Walker continued: “Voluntary assisted dying is being debated by politicians in every jurisdiction across these islands – except Northern Ireland.
“While citizens across the Republic of Ireland and GB are being given the opportunity to debate this important question, our MLAs continue to refuse to engage in the issue, in effect disenfranchising people here.
“With the Isle of Man and Jersey both potentially set to introduce voluntary assisted dying from 2027 while the Scots consult on their own Bill and Westminster prepares to debate the Second Reading of Kim Ledbeater’s Bill on the issue on November 29th*, pressure is building on our Assembly to act now.”
Expressing an different view, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) has said that ‘the vote was far from conclusive demonstrating that there remains a clear divide on this fundamental issue.’
In a joint statement, Rev Daniel Kane, PCI’s Convener of the Council for Public Affairs, and Rev William Hayes, convener of the Council’s panel that advises the Church on social, political and economic matters in the State, noted that the vote was far from conclusive
“As we have said before as a Church on this issue, changing the law to permit assisted suicide and euthanasia raises the most fundamental of questions about the value that we place as a society on human life. For people of faith, and indeed no faith at all, human life, its preservation, its dignity, and its protection, are moral and precious values, which society casts off at its peril,” they said.
“The fact that two reports, a majority report and a minority report, were published by the Joint Committee in March was a clear demonstration of the deep divisions that exist over this fundamental and sensitive issue.
“With less than 60 per cent of TDs backing the report on Wednesday, there is a sizeable body of opinion in the Dáil, that opposes the introduction of assisted suicide and euthanasia, whose views need to be listened to. In short, the vote was far from conclusive demonstrating that there remains a clear divide on this fundamental issue.”
The two ministers concluded: “While the vote does not mean that legislation is imminent, it is indicative of what a new government may do.
“As a General Election will be called soon, when the time comes, we would encourage all candidates to make clear their position, so that the electorate know exactly where their potential representatives stand on his literal life and death issue.”