Recession strengthens case against assisted suicide, MPs say Only 26 per cent supported such a change, according to the ComRes poll commissioned by the Care Not Killing Alliance, which campaigns against assisted suicide. Strong majorities also feared that changing the law could lead to vulnerable people - including even those with treatable conditions such as depression - feeling under pressure to opt for suicide. The findings contrast markedly with those of a poll in 2009, which found 53 per cent of MPs supported the proposition that doctors should escape prosecution for assisting terminally ill people to die as long as they who were of sound mind and had made a direct request to end their life. The latest poll asked MPs whether they supported legalising assisted suicide for adults who are mentally competent and have less than 12 months to live - the same circumstances in which a commission led by the former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer recommended allowing doctors to help people end their lives. Lord falconer is expected to table a bill in the Lords proposing changing the law in those terms next year. While opposition was strongest among Conservatives, with 67 per cent opposing or strongly opposing the change, there was also a clear majority of Labour MPs against, at 57 per cent. Opposition was noticeably higher among Scottish MPs - with 86 per cent against - than English or Welsh members, among whom the rates were 59 per cent and 47 per cent respectively. The Liberal Democrats were the only party in which support for a change outstrips opposition, with 44 per cent in favour and 39 per cent against. The party leader Nick Clegg has voiced personal opposition to changing the law but believes the matter should be a free vote. Overall 77 per cent said a change in the law was not a priority - suggesting that even some supporters of a change in the law would not be pressing urgently for one. More than half agreed that a change would make suicide more "socially acceptable" and ultimately increase the suicide rate, with a quarter disagreeing. Meanwhile seven out of 10 MPs thought that vulnerable people could feel under pressure to opt for suicide were doctors to be allowed to prescribe lethal drugs on request. Only one in five actively disagreed with that proposition. Almost two thirds (64 per cent) thought that even people with treatable conditions such as depression might feel under pressure to opt for suicide. Dr Peter Saunders, campaign director of Care Not Killing, said: "Any change in the law to allow assisted suicide would put pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives and these pressures will be particularly acute at a time at a time when many sick, elderly and disabled people are struggling to make ends meet. Fortunately, a clear majority of MPs recognise this and agree that assisted suicide should not be legalised.