LONDON - A British woman with multiple sclerosis lost a court battle today aimed at protecting her husband from possible prosecution if he takes her to a suicide clinic overseas.

But in its ruling the Court of Appeal also said that recent court cases indicate that prosecution would probably be unlikely, a fact that encouraged the MS victim.

Debbie Purdy, 45, says she feels that she has won her argument, despite having lost the appeal.

Purdy had asked Britain's courts to clarify whether husband, Cuban violinist Omar Puente, would be committing a criminal offence if he took her to a clinic in Switzerland or Belgium.

Laws in both countries allow clinics to help the terminally ill end their lives in some circumstances.

In Britain, both assisted suicide and euthanasia are banned, but British courts have recently been reluctant to convict people who help loved ones travel to suicide clinics.

Igor Judge, Britain's lord chief justice, said in the Court of Appeal ruling that he could offer no specific guarantee that Puente would be immune from prosecution. But the judge also said recent cases indicated that would be unlikely.

In December, prosecutors said they would not charge the parents of 23-year-old Daniel James for helping him to die at a Swiss Dignitas clinic three months earlier. James was paralyzed from the chest down after an accident while playing rugby.

Purdy had argued to the courts that she wasn't prepared to risk that her husband could be sent to jail for helping her end her life. Aiding or abetting suicide is a criminal offence in Britain that carries a maximum jail term of 14 years.

She asked Britain to clarify its laws, saying she would be forced to travel to a suicide clinic earlier than planned, if she had to go overseas without the help of Puente.

"What in reality Ms. Purdy is seeking, and we understand why she is seeking it, is the nearest thing possible to a guarantee that if ... her husband assists her suicide when she is no longer able to end her own life by her own unassisted actions, he would not be prosecuted," Judge said in the ruling.

He said the Court of Appeal could not grant Purdy that Puente would effectively be immune from prosecution.

Judge said Britain's courts could not condone or encourage people to help loved ones who are sick commit suicide. But he pointed to the James case as an example of how similar situations are likely to be handled in future.

"Ms. Purdy must take legal advice, and no doubt she will, and she must then make her own decision," said Judge.