LONDON — Britain's High Court rejected Thursday an attempt by a man who has locked-in syndrome to overturn the country's euthanasia law, refusing to allow doctors to end his life legally.
Tony Nicklinson, 58, had a stroke in 2005 that left him unable to speak or move below his neck.
He requires constant care and communicates mostly by blinking, although his mind has remained unaffected and his condition is not terminal.
In January, Nicklinson had asked the High Court to declare that any doctor who kills him with his consent will not be charged with murder.
The High Court ruled Thursday that challenges from Nicklinson and another man, named only as Martin in court papers, to allow others to help them die without being prosecuted were a matter for Parliament to decide.
Nicklinson said he was devastated and heartbroken and planned to appeal.
''I am saddened that the law wants to condemn me to a life of increasing indignity and misery,'' he said in a statement.
Martin, 47, also has locked-in syndrome and asked the court to allow professionals to help him die, either by withholding food and water or by helping him go to a clinic in Switzerland to die.
His wife said she respects his wishes but does not want to help kill him.
Locked-in syndrome is a rare neurological disorder in which patients are completely paralyzed and able only to blink.