Two-thirds of Scots believe that the law should be changed to allow assisted suicide, a poll for The Sunday Times has revealed.

Most people said they backed legislation proposed by Margo MacDonald, the independent MSP, to give people who are terminally ill the right to end their lives with the help of a doctor.

MacDonald, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, is to lodge her End of Life Choices (Scotland) Bill in the Scottish parliament next month. So far, it has attracted the support of 21 MSPs.

A poll of 1,000 people by Cello MRUK — the first test of public opinion on the proposals — asked whether the law should be changed in Scotland to allow doctors to help people with chronic illness who want to die to end their lives: 68% said yes, 8% said no and 24% said they did not know.

MacDonald said that she hoped the poll’s findings would encourage MSPs who she knew were privately sympathetic to “break cover” and back her bill.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland said: “This poll reflects the concern that many people have about end-of-life issues. They are concerned about themselves and those around them dying and the conditions under which they will die.

“The worry with Margo MacDonald’s bill, however, is that its scope is so wide that I wonder whether people know what they are signing up to. Some of her proposals have even been rejected by some proponents of euthanasia.

“While we cannot force people to vote a certain way on assisted suicide, it is prudent to be clear about what they are signing up to and not to be carried away by sentiment.

“The changes the Bill would introduce are dramatic and the chances of its being misused are enormous.”

• Full story at the Sunday Times.

• Filed under Assisted Dying, Roman Catholic Church, Scottish Christian News Monitor, Social Policy.