Lawmakers on the Isle of Man vote on Tuesday whether to allow terminally ill people to end their lives, potentially making it the first place in the British Isles to legalise assisted dying.

The vote in the House of Keys -- the lower house of the Manx parliament, the Tynwald -- comes at a time of renewed debate about assisted dying in the UK, where the practice is illegal.

The self-governing Isle of Man, a British Crown Dependency of 84,500 people off the coast of northwest England, is not part of the United Kingdom and sets its own laws.

Its proposed assisted dying law would grant terminally ill adults the right to end their lives if they have less than a year left to live and have a "clear and settled intention".

The bill won overwhelming backing from MPs at a previous vote in October. It would need to be passed by the upper house of parliament before it could become law next year.

In London, a parliamentary health committee has urged the UK government to look again at the issue of assisted dying if another part of the UK or the British Isles change their laws.

Jersey, another Crown Dependency situated off northern France, is set to debate the legalisation of assisted dying later this month.

If that proposal passes, a law could come into effect by 2027.

In Scotland, which is part of the UK but has devolved powers on healthcare, a bill to legalise the practice was introduced in the parliament in Edinburgh in March but has yet to be voted on.

Recent polling suggests that public opinion is in favour of a change of law in the UK, with the leaders of both main political parties indicating they would be open to a vote on the matter.

A proposal to legalise assisted dying in England, Wales and Northern Ireland was soundly defeated in the last parliamentary vote on the practice in 2015.

UK parliamentarians debated the right to die again last month in response to a public petition signed by more than 207,000 people.

Anti-euthanasia campaigners say legalising the right to die on the Isle of Man could lead to people travelling to the island to end their lives.

The 24 members of the House of Keys (MHKs) amended the original bill to increase eligibility requirements from one to five years' residency on the Isle of Man.

They will now vote on whether patients would have to self-administer the drugs, or whether doctors could be asked to give them a lethal injection, which is known as voluntary euthanasia.

The Isle of Man Medical Society has voiced strong oppositoin to the latter option.

AFP

AFP - JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN

Isle of Man lawmakers vote on legalising assisted dying