A woman whose case against Ireland’s prohibition on assisted suicide was rejected by the High Court last week 
is set to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, The Irish Independent reports.
Marie Fleming, a 59 year suffering from multiple sclerosis, argued that the ban on assisted suicide infringed her rights under the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
She claimed the law discriminated against her, as an able-bodied person is free to take their own life.
A three-judge divisional High Court last week ruled against her, saying any relaxation of the ban would affect wider society and was not in the public interest of protecting vulnerable people.
The court also ruled the DPP should not be obliged to issue guidelines on the criteria used for prosecutions for assisted suicide.
However, the ruling also held out the possibility that those helping terminally ill people to commit suicide might not be prosecuted
The judges said that the risks involved in any relaxation of the ban were too great to protect the most vulnerable members of society.
“It would be impossible to ensure that the aged, the disabled, the poor, the unwanted, the rejected, the lonely, the impulsive, the financially compromised and emotionally vulnerable would not avail of this option in order to avoid a sense of being a burden on their family and society,” said the court.
The three-judge court, comprised of the Mr Justice Kearns, Mr Justice Paul Carney and Mr Justice Gerard Hogan, unanimously rejected Ms Fleming’s constitutional challenge.
The court said that while Ms Fleming was in many ways “the most remarkable witness any of the judges had ever been privileged to encounter,” in the interests of protecting the vulnerable in society the ban was justified and did not amount to an interference with her rights.
Ms Fleming was awarded her costs in the High Court case because it was deemed to be of exceptional public importance.
Papers have now been lodged for an appeal and the case is expected to be mentioned before the Supreme Court.