Dunfermline SNP MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville will vote in favour of assisted dying, The Courier can reveal.
The Scottish Government social justice secretary will back the proposals in a Holyrood vote next Tuesday.
“This is not a decision I have taken lightly,” she said.
Her announcement comes after First Minister John Swinney said he will not support the bill to allow assisted dying.
The SNP leader fears some terminally ill patients may feel “under pressure to end their lives prematurely” if it is introduced.
Ms Somerville told The Courier she spoke to residents in Dunfermline to gauge their thoughts.
“This issue is one that touches the lives of people across Dunfermline and west Fife, and across the whole of Scotland,” she said.
“Over the past few weeks and months, I have heard from many constituents who have shared their personal experiences.”
Next week’s vote is only the first stage. The proposed changes to the law would still have to be scrutinised by MSPs, if it passes.
Ms Somerville wants to make sure “enforceable protections” are in place for vulnerable patients who could be coerced into ending their own lives.
Assisted dying bills have fallen at the first hurdle in Holyrood on two previous occasions, in 2010 and 2015.
Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur is trying to steer the law through parliament this time.
Ms Somerville did not vote on the first occasion – and was not in Holyrood the second time it was rejected.
In January, a terminally ill St Andrews student warned against assisted dying.
But last March an Arbroath widower told us why his late wife had gone to Switzerland so she could take her own life after a terminal cancer diagnosis.
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