Liz Carr: 'I'm not better off dead'

Actor, comedian and disability rights campaigner Liz Carr has outlined her reasons for opposing the legalisation of assisted suicide.

Ms Carr, 50, told The Guardian that she remains concerned by the prospect of a law change, after the issue reemerged in the Lords.

Describing the particular, negative ramifications of a law change for the disabled people's community, she commented:

"There’s a whole group of people who have great concerns about it, and they’re the ones that often sit on the edge of life and death, because they’re within the healthcare system a lot or they have chronic conditions.”

"When somebody wants to end their life, we do all we can to stop that. When somebody is ill or disabled and wants to end their life, we understand it, and if anything we support it, and I think we should be really careful and interrogate why that is.”

Ms Carr revealed that people have told her "You’re remarkable because if I was like you, I’d rather be dead". She added:

"That flippant comment becomes dangerous when it becomes culturally acceptable to think, because then that does impact on policy. When you start valuing people’s lives as less than, you can see why that group of people become more disposable.”