Politicians are set to vote on whether to launch an assisted dying service in Jersey this week.
It comes after 78 per cent of the members of a citizens’ jury on Jersey agreed in 2021 that assisted dying should be permitted.
Health and social services minister Tom Binet said the proposals have been "very much influenced and informed by the views of islanders".
Plans for how an assisted dying law in Jersey would work were published in March.
Politicians are set to vote on whether to launch an assisted dying service in Jersey this week
PA
Binet said: "I think all the indications are that a majority of people actually want this."
When asked about his hopes for the tone of the debate on what is a sensitive and divisive topic, he said: "I think we have a pretty good democracy here. It seems to work pretty well and everybody has got an equal opportunity to say their piece."
A debate is set to begin on Tuesday, however Binet said voting may not start until Wednesday.
Five votes will take place, with the first on whether the island should set up an assisted dying service for adult residents who have made a voluntary and informed decision to die.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Members of the States Assembly will also be asked to vote on limiting eligibility to people with a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months, or 12 months if they have a neurodegenerative disease - referred to as route one.
Elected representatives will also have a vote on whether the service should be open to someone with an incurable physical condition which might not be terminal but is causing them unbearable suffering - known as route two.
Another vote offers an opt-out for health professionals, giving them a right to refuse to participate in assisted dying.
A fifth vote asks members to agree on minimum timeframes between the first formal request for an assisted death and the act itself – 14 days for route one and 90 days under route two.
The vote comes after 78 per cent of the members of a citizens’ jury on Jersey agreed in 2021 that assisted dying should be permitted
PA
The processing time to draft the law - if proposals are passed - could take around 18 months, with a debate then taking place by the end of 2025.
If the law is voted in, the implementation period will then begin 18-months later - meaning the earliest for it to come into effect would be summer 2027.
Binet added: "What you see in Jersey is a bottom up approach to this issue where citizens have not only driven the decision of the States Assembly to consider the issue of assisted dying, but have all had a really strong influence in shaping those proposals.
"The process has taken longer than in some other jurisdictions, but that’s because we’ve taken islanders along with us."
