Ex-minister Dame Joan Ruddock has revealed she was prepared to smother her dying husband with a pillow to ease
his agony.
Dame Joan, 80, said her husband, former MP Frank Doran, had end-stage bowel cancer and was struggling with the pain the night before he died in 2017.
The ex-Labour Energy Minister under PM Gordon Brown said she needed a doctor to give pain relief, but was told none might be available.
In a submission to MPs, Dame Joan said: “There and then I resolved that if a doctor did not come before 1am, I would end Frank’s life.
“I cursed myself for not using the liquid morphine when Frank could still swallow. Now, my only option was a pillow over his head. I feared he might struggle but I got the pillow ready.”
However, she said a doctor arrived just before midnight and said there was no need “as Frank was sleeping peacefully”.
She added: “I told him, once the drug wore off, the groaning would start again and I couldn’t allow his suffering to continue.” The pain relief was given but “Frank died seven hours later”.
Dame Joan called for a free vote in the Commons, saying: “Around 80% of people in the country support assisted dying.
“MPs should take note of that.”
