An attempt to legalise assisted suicide was made at the Scottish Parliament last night.

Margo MacDonald, the veteran MSP who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, started the process to bring a Private Member’s Bill before the Parliament next year.

The move will fuel the debate prompted by the suicide in Switzerland of the paralysed rugby player Daniel James, 23, and the attempt by Debbie Purdy, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, to have the Crown Prosecution Service clarify its position on assisted suicide.

In a statement, Ms MacDonald said that public support for assisted dying had convinced her that there should be choices for people whose lives have become intolerable.

“I believe it inhumane and ultimately futile for the law to deny this right to choose,” she said. “I believe that the law must change to protect not only dignity in death for patients, but also to ensure that medical staff are not coerced into helping a patient die before the natural end of life.”

Ms MacDonald intends to issue a consultation on her proposals next month.

In March, during a parliamentary debate, she said that she should be allowed to end her life if her own debilitating condition became too painful to bear. She subsequently received more than 200 supportive letters and e-mails. She said yesterday that recent high-profile cases had reinforced her belief that legislation was necessary.

On Wednesday Ms Purdy, 45, failed in her attempt to clarify the law on assisted suicide in England.

West Mercia Police revealed this month that they were investigating the death of Mr James in a Swiss assisted suicide clinic.

Ms MacDonald said yesterday that she hoped to instigate a “searching public debate” on the issue. “There has been a rise in public interest in this topic and politicians have something of a duty to investigate it since it impacts on so many people and their families,” she said.

Ms MacDonald’s proposed Bill would incorporate into the principles of palliative care a patient’s right to choose to end his or her life, with assistance.

Since making a documentary on the subject in the Netherlands last year she has become an admirer of the Dutch system, in which patients may enlist the help of a recognised medical practitioner.

“I was convinced that the Dutch way was preferable by far to the trek to Switzerland that is undertaken by an estimated 100-plus UK citizens who would have jeopardised the legal position of anyone giving them assistance,” she said. Although Ms MacDonald’s stance on the issue has garnered a great deal of public sympathy, previous attempts to introduce similar legislation at Holyrood have failed.

Jeremy Purvis, the Liberal Democrat MSP, could not find enough support among his fellow MSPs to change the law. A Private Member’s Bill requires the signatures of 18 MSPs to proceed.

Ms MacDonald said that the debate has moved on since then and claimed that a groundswell of support among the public could change the minds of formerly reluctant MSPs.

“If MSPs come to believe, as I do, that this is a subject of general concern, and would like it resolved and the law clarified, even MSPs who don’t agree will want it debated,” she said.

Despite her claims, there was little sign of a groundswell of support among her 129 fellow MSPs last night, and the Nationalist government has no intention of backing her.

Campaigners welcomed Ms MacDonald’s proposals, however, and said that they would be pushing for similar legislation to be introduced in England and Wales.

Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, said: “I am delighted the Scottish people are able to take part in this much needed debate. Dignity in Dying will do all that it can to ensure that this debate also takes place in England and Wales over the coming months.”

Explore Law

• Columnists

• Law Panel

• Law Reports

• Student Law

Times Recommends

• The best legal yarns this Christmas
• Legal school 'earned £1m by exploiting bar course'
• Axe may fall on 5,000 more City lawyers