Silent Witness star and wheelchair user Liz Carr has scared so many people into thinking assisted suicide is a good idea

She’s starred in hit shows such as Silent Witness, Good Omens and The Witcher, but Liz Carr thinks her new TV project eclipses them all in terms of importance.

Liz, an anti-assisted dying campaigner long before she became an actress, made the BBC documentary Better Off Dead? bring up the topic. She has been trying to get the idea off the ground since 2011 and said: “It scares me to feel like the majority of people think assisted suicide is a really good idea.

“I don’t think we hear about other points of view. There are a lot of people who have fears. Given the current state of society, recent comments about welfare and people with disabilities, is this really the right time to propose death as a solution?

Liz, who has used a wheelchair since she was a teenager, says many people have told her that if they were “like her” they would rather die. All her friends with disabilities have had the same experience, she says. On the show, Liz asks: “If you saw someone on a bridge about to jump, would you stand there and let them do it?” Would you support them in the name of choice and autonomy?

“No, you’d probably step in and suggest they get help.” But if it were a disabled person, would your answer be the same? Or do you view their decision to end their lives as understandable, even inevitable? Many of us think that assisted suicide creates a two-tiered system: suicide prevention for some, suicide approval for others.

Liz says she’s afraid Keir Starmer will become Prime Minister. The Labor leader said MPs should be able to vote freely on the issue. Asked if she had a message for him, she replied: “I would say, please watch the documentary. Please speak to those who have concerns and don’t marginalize us as marginalized or religious.

As part of the program, Liz travels to Canada, where assisted suicide is legal. Its law originally only provided for terminally ill patients, but in 2021 it was expanded to include incurable illnesses. Liz meets Amir Farsoud, who has a severe disability and whose request for assisted suicide was approved, even though he says he told doctors he was only requesting because his benefits would no longer cover his expenses. housing costs and feared homelessness.

Liz also meets euthanasia doctor Ellen Wiebe, who has medically assisted the deaths of more than 500 people. She tells Liz, 52, that she could be a candidate for assisted suicide under Canadian law. She adds: “I love my job. It’s the best job I’ve ever done in the last seven years and people ask me why and I think, “Well, doctors like grateful patients,” and no one is more grateful than my patients now.