Debbie Purdy case: Pro-life group plots legal action Reaction to the law lords’ ruling today ranged from delight to dismay. Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, a campaign group which supported Debbie Purdy’s case, said the ruling was “significant” and better than “the current legal muddle” because it drew a distinction between maliciously encouraging someone to kill themselves and compassionately assisting someone to die.