Brittany Maynard's Death 'Reprehensible,' Says Vatican

Ending one's life isn't 'dignity': spokesman
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 4, 2014 10:48 AM CST
Brittany Maynard's Death 'Reprehensible,' Says Vatican
This undated file photo provided by the Maynard family shows Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old terminally ill woman who ended her own life under Oregon law.   (AP Photo/Maynard Family, File)

The Vatican has made its views on Brittany Maynard's death very clear: The decision to end her own life was "reprehensible," says the Vatican's bioethics chief. "Assisted suicide is an absurdity," Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula tells ANSA. As for Maynard's support for Oregon's Death With Dignity law, he notes, "dignity is something other than putting an end to one's own life."

The official says he's not judging Maynard herself, "but the gesture in and of itself should be condemned," CBS News reports. Suicide, he says, "is a wicked thing, because it is saying no both to one's own life and to everything which signifies respect for our mission in this world and toward those closest to us," AFP reports via the Business Standard. (More Vatican stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X