Right-to-die verdict awaited

Terminally ill Diane Pretty will hear the final verdict on her battle for the right to commit suicide with the help of her husband.

The British High Court ruled in October a family member could not help a loved one die, so Mrs Pretty took her case to the House of Lords.

Law lords are due to reveal their decision on what Mrs Pretty describes as her last wish.

The mother of two, from Luton, Bedfordshire, who suffers from motor neurone disease, is paralysed from the neck down and has to be fed with a tube.

Mrs Pretty said: "I hope the Lords will grant me this last wish and allow me a say in how I die.

"I have tried every type of medical treatment offered, including palliative care, and fought this disease every step of the way.

"If I am allowed to decide when and how I die, I will feel that I have wrested some autonomy back and kept hold of my dignity.

"That is how I want my family to remember me - as someone who respected the law and asked in turn that the law respected my rights."

Mrs Pretty has challenged a decision of the British Director of Public Prosecutions, David Calvert-Smith, who refused to give a guarantee that he would not take criminal proceedings against her husband Brian if he helps her take her own life.

Supporters say Mrs Pretty is clear in her mind that she wants to end the suffering and indignity which she will have to endure before she dies if the disease is allowed to run its course. But because of her physical disability she cannot take her own life without assistance.