The House of Lords today (29th November) rejected Diane Pretty's appeal in her bid to be allowed her right to commit suicide without her husband facing prosecution for assisting her.

The Lords ruled unanimously against ordering the DPP to reconsider his decision not to assure Brian Petty of immunity from prosecution for helping the terminally-ill Mrs Pretty end her own life. They also elected not to declare the blanket ban on assistance even in exceptional circumstances, in s2 of the Suicide Act 1961, incompatible with the protections for an individual's right to a private life and to the Human Rights Act.

Before the hearing, Mrs Pretty, 43, 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."

Diane will now seek to ask the European Court of Human Rights that same question. Immediately after the hearing she said: "I want to go on. I feel I have no rights. The Law Lords don't want to admit that the law is wrong."

Liberty's Mona Arshi, Diane Pretty's solicitor, said: "Diane wants a peaceful and dignified death - and to ensure that those few people in the same extreme position who make the same choice have that option.

"Of course legal protections and safeguards are necessary - but these protections are not helping Diane, they are denying her her one remaining choice.

"The overwhelming public support for Diane's case shows very clearly that it is time parliament reassessed this law. Lord Steyn mentions the possible need for a Death with Dignity Act; we hope very much that Parliament will consider that possibility. In the meantime, we will take the case on to Strasbourg".

Deborah Annetts, Director of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society said: "We are saddened that the Law Lords have condemned Diane to acute distress but welcome the finding that it is open to the DPP to form a policy that would help people like Diane"