Jersey's Health Minister refuses to back assisted dying

Jersey's Health Minister has told ITV News that he will vote against the legalisation of assisted dying when the States Assembly debates the issue later this year.

Deputy Richard Renouf's comments come just weeks after a panel of islanders recommended a change in the law.

78.3% of the Citizens' Panel on Assisted Dying agreed that it should be permitted where a Jersey resident, aged 18 and over, has a terminal illness or is experiencing unbearable suffering. Unbearable suffering was not to include suffering caused by a mental condition, like depression.

• Citizens' Jury votes overwhelmingly in favour of legalising assisted dying in Jersey

The panel was made up of 23 Jersey residents, selected at random to provide a broadly representative sample of the Island's population.

• Jersey's Assisted Dying Debate: The Conversation

• 'Unfair and unjustified': A Jersey man's call for an assisted dying law