She wants to know whether her husband, Cuban Omar Puente, can help her travel to the Swiss organisation Dignitas, which helps people end their lives.

As it stands, the law on assisted suicide is vague. The 1961 Suicide Act makes it illegal to "aid, abet, counsel or procure the suicide of another". But how that law is interpreted is a lottery.

Two years ago Paul Weber was jailed for 12 months for strangling his mother after she took an overdose. He had cared for her for 18 years and had intended to also take his own life.

Debbie Purdy, 45, from Bradford does not want to leave her husband of 10 years to the anomalies of the British legal system.

In June she won the right to a judicial review of the law, but since then her condition has deteriorated. She can no longer walk and she is losing her hearing and sight.

While terrified at the prospect of appearing in court again, she is determined to do so to protect the man she loves, and for her right to end her life when she feels the time is right. Baroness Warnock caused a stir last week when she suggested the elderly or infirm should be allowed to die if they felt they were becoming a burden to their families.

I understand some of the concerns of those who oppose assisted suicide; that elderly people may be coerced into agreeing to die by pushy relatives.

But surely every case must be taken on its merits and a procedure put in place to stop people like Debbie Purdy spending their precious last few months battling in the courts, rather than enjoying every moment they have left with their loved ones.

What seems to concern her most about tomorrow's hearing is that she won't get the clarification she so desires and that she will be forced to take the case to the House of Lords.

She, and others faced with an impossible dilemma, need to know when those they love are crossing the line between caring for their loved ones and doing something illegal. Let's hope the High Court sees sense and clarifies the law for Debbie and for others who find themselves
in her unenviable position.

Let them enjoy their last weeks and months as much as possible, and when the time comes, let them die without the worry of what will happen to those they leave behind.