Brittany Maynard's Death 'Reprehensible,' Says Vatican

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.)