Woman with MS argues for right to die

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DUBLIN, Ireland, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- An Irish woman with multiple sclerosis asked the country's highest court Wednesday to allow her to end her life when she wishes.

The hearing began Tuesday before a three-judge panel of the High Court, the Irish Times reported. Marie Fleming, 58, said if she cannot get help killing herself her doctors have told her she will choke on her saliva, an ending she does not want.

Fleming, a grandmother who lives in County Wicklow, was accompanied to court by her partner, Tom Curran. She told the judges she believes she can participate in her suicide and that she is ready to die.

"I have put all my wrongs to rights and my rights to wrongs," she said. "I've sorted out everything in my head."

Under current Irish law, anyone participating in an assisted suicide faces a possible 14 years in prison. Fleming said she had considered going to Switzerland where the organization Dignitas helps with assisted suicide but rejected it when she learned the group is located in an industrial park.