Christian and pro-life groups are alarmed by proposals to allow assisted suicide for terminally ill people in England and Wales.

The change is proposed in a report published today by the Commission on Assisted Dying, chaired by former justice secretary Lord Falconer.

The report recommends allowing doctors to prescribe lethal doses of drugs to terminally ill patients who wish to die and have less than 12 months to live.

The patient would have to be over the age of 18 and not deemed to be mentally impaired. The approval of two independent doctors would also be required.

Guidelines were issued two years ago mitigating against prosecution in cases of assisted suicide where there was a clear will on the part of the patient to die and where the person assisting was motivated by compassion.

However, assisting a suicide remains a criminal offence and carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

If the commission's proposals were to be adopted, it would open the door for legalised assisted suicide.

The commission was set up by the pro-euthanasia group Dignity in Dying and was funded by Terry Pratchett, an Alzheimer’s sufferer and supporter of assisted suicide.

One of the 11 commissioners, Baroness Barbara Young, told the BBC: “There needs to be a change in the law.”

The 400-page report draws on 1,300 responses gathered over the course of a yearlong investigation.

The commission came under fire late last year after it emerged that nine of the 11 commissioners were known supporters of assisted suicide.

As many as 40 organisations and individuals, including the British Medical Association and the Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to submit responses to the inquiry because of serious concerns about impartiality.

The commission's recommendations have been condemned by Care Not Killing, an alliance of pro-life organisations that includes the British Council of Disabled People and Christian Medical Fellowship.

Dr Peter Saunders, Campaign Director of Care Not Killing said the investigation was “biased” and the resulting report “seriously flawed”.

“It is being spun as a comprehensive, objective and independent review into this complicated issue. It is anything but."

Dr Saunders questioned the justification for spending money on drugs to help end lives instead of investing in life-saving and life-extending drugs.

The safeguards proposed by the report were, he said, “paper-thin and have already been rejected three times in the last six years by British Parliaments”.

“These recommendations if implemented will place vulnerable people under increased pressure to end their lives so as not to be a burden on others,” he said.

“This pressure can be especially intense at a time of economic recession when families and the health service are already feeling the pinch.

“The so-called right to die can so easily become the duty to die.

“The present law protects those who have no voice against exploitation and coercion, acts as a powerful deterrent to would-be abusers and gives discretion to judges to temper justice with mercy in hard cases.”

The results of a ComRes poll published today found that 45% of adults in Britain are concerned that some people would feel pressured to end their lives if assisted suicide were legalised.

The poll, commissioned by public policy group CARE, also revealed that 47% believe that making provisions for assisted suicide would not help society to value disabled people more.

This figure rose among 18 to 24-year-olds to 57%, and those in managerial and professional jobs to 55%.

CARE chief executive Nola Leach said, “At the beginning of this New Year we should be thinking about the steps we can take that will challenge our society to value the vulnerable and people with disabilities more.

“The last thing we should be contemplating - especially at a time of economic hardship - is changing our laws so that those with a terminal illness, who believe they are a burden, are more likely to feel pressured into ending their lives.”