Actor Liz Carr has voiced her support for the US government’s refusal to legalise euthanasia
The Silent Witness and Good Omens star is also a disability rights activist. She argued how assisted dying programmes may have cultural implications on the lives of people with disabilities.
“For somebody who loses their job or a loved one and is left feeling suicidal, others will rally around and support them with suicide prevention help,” she told the Daily Mail.
“But as soon as that’s a disabled or ill person, people think it’s fine for them to have a medically-assisted death. They think it’s better to be dead than to be disabled.”
Legalising such an option, she believes, might encourage disabled people to end their lives prematurely with the belief they must “stop being a burden” to those around them.
Carr was diagnosed at the age of seven with a rare genetic disorder in her muscles and joints called arthrogryposis multiplex congenita. Since finding herself in the limelight on TV, she has become an advocate for others like her and has been speaking out against assisted death for more than a decade.
Last month, she screened her documentary Better Off Dead? in front of the US Congress.
“As long as we’re unequal, and certain groups are devalued, no safeguard will protect us,” Carr said.