Actress Liz Carr says she's 'losing sleep' over assisted dying law

Merseyside actress Liz Carr thinks the idea of giving terminally ill people the right to an assisted death is a "terrifying" prospect. Tomorrow, MPs will begin debating a proposed law which would give terminally ill people the right to end their lives at a time of their choosing. Currently, the law prevents people from asking for medical assistance to help them die.

Earlier this year, Liz made a documentary for the BBC about assisted dying called Better off Dead? and has become a prominent opponent to the assisted dying bill. She was born with a condition called arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, and has used a wheelchair since the age of 14. Alongside her acting, Liz has been a disability rights activist for many years. She has been a fixture on our TV screens for decades, but is best known for playing Clarissa Mullery in the BBC's Silent Witness.

READ MORE: How going to a children's hospice changed my life

READ MORE: Mum's thank you to Liverpool Women's after baby girl born weighing just 606 grams

Speaking on the BBC's Hardtalk programme, Liz talked about her experiences as a disabled person, and said some people seem to think that dying is preferable to having a disability. She said: "Complete strangers in the street will say to visibly disabled people, 'gosh, you know, if I was like you, I think I'd rather be dead'. I'm a disabled woman, and I'm very okay with that (being a disabled woman). Do you really think that my life is so awful that I constantly want to die?"

The law would allow terminally ill people diagnosed as having less than six months to live to qualify for assisted dying, but Liz thinks the definition of terminal illness is "quite often slippery". She added: "Whatever view you have on this, the doctors involved agree. In two thirds of cases, you can't predict that. Predictions are not clear. And there is actually a fine line between terminal illness and disability. Particularly medically, legally, and even in public perception.

"Certainly in the UK, most of the major legal cases - people who've tried to change the law - they've all been disabled. They haven't been terminally ill. So in the media, we get this sense of who is terminally ill and who is disabled, and public perception is, 'it's this gang of people'. They look like me."

Asked whether the discussion makes her feel vulnerable, Liz said: "Yes. I'm not sleeping," adding: "It is terrifying to me that once we cross that line, and we allow the state and the medical profession to get involved in the deaths and the killing or the giving of lethal medication to certain people, that we've crossed a moral divide and there's no going back."

Liz is concerned there will be a 'slippery slope' in terms of broadening the scope of who qualifies for assisted dying. She said: "I've worked on this for probably 20 years now, and have been around the world and talked to people on both sides.

Talking about the situation in Canada, where assisted dying is legal, Liz said: "It's big over there, and it's going to be for people who have mental health issues in 2027. It is absolutely not just about people who have terminal illnesses - it's about disabled people.

"You can qualify because you have a physical condition. Then you have to prove that you're suffering. Your suffering can be for other reasons. It can be existential, it can be social. It can be socio-economic."

Liz was born in Port Sunlight and spent the early part of her childhood in Bebington, before moving to the United States for her dad's work. Within six months of arriving in America she became ill. When the family eventually returned to Merseyside, Liz's former schoolfriends didn't recognise her and even accused her of being an 'imposter'.

A parliamentary debate on assisted dying will take place tomorrow, November 29. MPs have been given a free vote, which means they can choose to vote whichever way their conscience decides, rather than being whipped to follow party instructions. In 2015, MPs voted to reject proposed changes to the law on assisted dying by 330 votes to 118.

What do you think? Vote in our poll below and if you can't see the poll click here.