Faroe Islands ethics council to review public opinion on assisted dying

The Faroese Ethics Council will now compile and assess public views on assisted dying following a recent conference in Runavík, a move that could lead to recommendations on how the Faroe Islands should address the issue, council chair Bergur Debes Joensen announced in a radio interview.

Assisted dying has in recent years become legally available under strict conditions in several Western countries, but in the Faroe Islands, active euthanasia remains criminalised under current legislation, reports Faroese national broadcaster Kringvarp Føroya.

The topic has long been debated in the Faroes, though public discussion has previously been limited. Last year, the Ethics Council, the Medical Ethics Council, and the Ethics Committee of the Faroese Psychologists’ Association jointly organised a public conference on assisted dying at Løkshøll in Runavík.

The issue was also addressed in a recent broadcast of Breddan, where the Faroese health minister Eyðdis Hartmann Niclasen and Jákup N. Olsen, chair of the Patients’ Council, discussed the matter.