Boston Globe: “For Assistance in Dying, Please Press 1”

By Diane Coleman (pictured right) 

Liz Carr’s documentary, “Better Off Dead?”, continues making a difference, serving as a wake up call about the dangers assisted suicide laws pose for people with disabilities. A Boston Globe columnist noted this week:

The most chilling detail in “Better Off Dead?” a new BBC documentary by the English actress and comedian Liz Carr, is an automated telephone message. …

Thank you for calling. The Ontario Medical Assistance in Dying Care Coordination Service is designed to provide information about end of life options in Ontario and referrals for Medical Assistance in Dying. If you would like to speak with an adviser to access the service or get more information, please press 1.

Support for Assisted Suicide Is Up, But the Slope It Would Lead to Is Dangerously Slippery.

By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist

Updated June 12, 2024, 3:00 a.m.

The most chilling detail in “Better Off Dead?” a new BBC documentary by the English actress and comedian Liz Carr (pictured here), is an automated telephone message: "For assistance in dying, please press 1."

Carr, who has been disabled since childhood and uses a wheelchair, made the film as Parliament debates whether to make it legal for doctors to help end the lives of people who are terminally ill and who say they wish to die. Similar legislation is being pushed in Massachusetts, where a bill permitting doctors to prescribe suicide drugs to patients with less than six months to live is now before the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

The film lasts just 58 minutes but it powerfully refutes the claim that authorizing medical professionals to facilitate the deaths of people with a fatal illness or disability is either enlightened or safe.