Sheffield widow who was investigated by police after helping her husband die renews call for a change in the law

Jan Vallance and her husband Mark travelled to the Dignitas clinic in April 2018 after the incurable Parkinson’s disease he had been living with for 20 years became too much of a burden for the 73-year-old to bear.

Jan, who was subsequently investigated by police and has since become a campaigner on the issue, is now backing a parliamentary group which this Wednesday (July 15) will hear both personal stories and expert international opinion regarding the impact of the blanket ban on assisted dying.

Speakers at the all-party parliamentary group on choice at the end of life will include Joy Munns, the daughter of Mavis Eccleston who was cleared of murder last year after helping her terminally ill husband to die and former Australian MP and health minister Jill Hennessy, who helped pass an assisted dying law in the state of Victoria.

Jan, aged 73, said: "Mark’s fear wasn’t dying – he knew that was inevitable – it was facing a death full of struggle, pain, and anxiety.

“The UK’s assisted dying laws forced us to go to Dignitas, the only means of fulfilling Mark’s final wish for a dignified death on his own terms. Those same laws then subjected the family to a devastating police investigation.”

The fresh calls for a change in the law come as a new book on assisted dying was published last month.

Last Rights: The Case for Assisted Dying by Sarah Wootton and Lloyd Riley of the campaign group Dignity in Dying, has won support from high profile figures including actor Sir Patrick Stewart, chef and TV presenter Prue Leith, and author Ian McEwan.

"This new book demonstrates everything that is wrong with how we approach death and dying in this country,” said Jan.

“Terminally ill people face impossible choices and loving families are criminalised for acts of compassion. None of this is right and MPs must now launch a much-needed inquiry into our assisted dying laws that cause so much suffering."

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