Wicklow woman, Marie Fleming, who is in the terminal stages of multiple sclerosis (MS), will discover today if the Supreme Court has ruled in favour of her ending her own life with assistance.

Ms Fleming, a former university lecturer who is in her late 50s, was diagnosed with MS in the 1980s and is now in the terminal stages of the illness. She recently took a landmark case to fight for the right to end her life with assistance.

Ms Fleming has to take more than 20 tablets a day. She is in constant pain and cannot use any of her limbs. She has no bladder control and often chokes due to problems with swallowing.

Earlier this year, she explained to a specially convened three-judge High Court that she had been told she may choke to death.

She explained that her long-term partner, Tom Curran, was willing to assist her to die, however under current laws, he could face up to 14 years in prison for doing so. Her children could also be prosecuted simply for being in the room at the time of the assisted death.

As a result, she was challenging section 2.2 of the Criminal Law Suicide Act, which ‘renders it an offence to aide, abet, counsel or procure the suicide of another'. She argued that any such offence should be qualified so as to permit an exception in extreme circumstances such as hers.

However, the High Court ruled against her challenge, stating that it could not agree that the relevant legislation was disproportionate. She decided to appeal this decision to the seven-judge Supreme Court. They are due to rule on the issue later today.