*Content Advisory \u2013 this article contains references to assisted dying*<\/p>\n
Actress and disability rights campaigner Liz Carr<\/a> presents this powerful documentary on legalising assisted dying in the UK.<\/p>\n Airing on Tuesday 14th<\/sup> May at 9pm on BBC ONE and iPlayer,<\/a> \u2018Better Off Dead?\u2019 follows Liz on a thought-provoking journey as she debates why we shouldn\u2019t change the law.<\/p>\n As a long-term campaigner on the issue, she is passionately against allowing assisted dying in the UK fearing that disabled lives will be at risk.<\/p>\n Travelling to Canada, Liz explores the repercussions of some of the most permissive assisted dying laws in the world. Here she is confronted with a law that can end the lives of not just the terminally ill, but people who are disabled, and those who are offered a medically assisted death as a \u2018way out\u2019 of social deprivation.<\/p>\n Back in the UK, Liz meets influential voices calling for a change in the law such as Labour peer Lord Falconer<\/a> and Sunday Times columnist Melanie Reid.<\/a> She also meets fellow campaigners fighting to retain the status quo; including disabled peer Baroness Jane Campbell<\/a>, who had a \u2018Do Not Resuscitate\u2019 order placed on her for a routine illness without consent.<\/p>\n In a society where disabled people aren’t always given the support they need, Liz asks: \u201cShould we really be giving more power to end that group of people\u2019s lives?\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Erica Borgstrom, Professor of Medical Anthropology<\/a> and one of the academic consultants on the programme, said:<\/p>\n \u201cThe topic of assisted dying can be quite complex to cover in a 60-minute programme. It was useful to be involved in order\u00a0to provide feedback on terminology and how different perspectives were being portrayed. The programme has relevance to several OU modules and research areas.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Dr Marc Cornock, Senior Lecturer in Healthcare Law<\/a>, \u00a0who also consulted on the series, said:<\/p>\n \u201cEuthanasia, assisted dying, assisted suicide, are written about as if the terms are interchangeable, and most often written from the perspective of those who want to end their life. It is interesting to see the opposite perspective\u201d.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This programme was commissioned by Broadcast and Partnerships<\/a> and is supported by the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, with particular relevance to R26 BA (Hons) Health and Social Care<\/a>, R39 BSc (Hons) Nursing<\/a> and Q32 BA (Hons) Social Work<\/a><\/p>\n\n