'Harry Potter' actress says she'd 'ask to be put down' if her health declines

Actress Miriam Margolyes, known by many for starring as Professor Sprout in the "Harry Potter" film franchise, recently suggested she would prefer to undergo 'medical assistance in dying' if her health diminishes to the point where she cannot live independently.

Key Takeaways:

• Miriam Margolyes is 84 years old, and said she is beginning to feel the effects of aging.

• She said if she has a stroke or becomes ill to the point she cannot function on her own, she wants to be killed through assisted suicide or euthanasia.

• Most people killed through "aid in dying" do so due to a loss of autonomy and fear of being a burden on others.

The Details:

In a new interview with The Daily Mail's Weekend Magazine, Margolyes spoke about her life and career, and the circumstances under which she would want to undergo assisted suicide.

The British actress made her name as a character actor for decades, starring in films like "The Age of Innocence," "Romeo + Juliet," and the "Harry Potter" franchise, as well as the British TV series "Call the Midwife."

She admits now that she wished she had taken better care of her body when she was younger, as she begins to feel the effects of aging. "I’ve let my body down. I haven’t taken care of it," she said. "I have to walk with a walker now. I wish I’d done exercise. It’s the most ghastly waste of time, except that it keeps you going. So, I’m foolish."

With that, she explained that if her health diminishes further, she would want to die.

"I don’t want to go through a slowly diminishing period of pain and embarrassment," she said. "If a stroke meant I couldn’t speak, or I was doubly incontinent, or I lost my mind completely, I would ask to be put down. That’s because I want to be who I am. I don’t want to be less than I can be."

Why It Matters:

Assisted suicide and euthanasia have become increasingly acceptable, with nations legalizing it around the world despite growing concerns about the practice.

Martin Buijsen, professor of health law at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, previously supported assisted suicide, even serving on the Euthanasia Review Committee in the Netherlands. But he is now speaking against it:

I have seen no jurisdiction in which the practice has not expanded, not one single jurisdiction. By imposing really strict criteria we can slow down the expansion … but they will not prevent the expansion.

What I saw was not only the increase in the numbers — which for me was a sign that it was no longer the last exception, the last resort — but it became more and more a default way to die. In addition to the numbers, we saw an expansion of the pathologies underlying euthanasia requests.

Meanwhile, the reasons people pursue assisted suicide have revealed how dangerous and exploitative the "medical assistance in dying" movement is. While the assisted suicide lobby insists legalization is needed to prevent people from dying a long, painful, prolonged death, those are not the reasons why most people opt to be killed.

Like Margolyes, most people fear not pain or a long death, but losing autonomy, and not being able to enjoy life the way they previously had. Many also fear becoming a burden on their loved ones, and are struggling with poverty and disability.

Furthermore, while it is presented as a less-painful alternative to a natural death, it can be agonizingly painful, and take hours, if not days, to die.

The Bottom Line:

Assisted suicide is not something that should be glorified, and it is disturbing to see a celebrity touting it as an acceptable way to die due to fear of a loss of independence. It is important that people receive the message that caring for them, should they become dependent, is not a burden.