The mother of Brittany Maynard, who ended her life early after being given a terminal diagnosis, has said Vatican criticism of her decision was "more than a sla

Mrs Maynard decided to use Oregon's right-to-die law that lets terminally ill patients die on their own terms by taking lethal medication prescribed by a doctor.

She had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and given six months to live in the Spring.

After her death a top Vatican official called the choice "reprehensible" and condemned the law.

Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, also urged for life to be more sacred.

But Mrs Maynard's mother, Debbie Ziegler issued a written response calling her daughter's decision a human rights issue.

She said: "My twenty-nine-year-old daughter's choice to die gently rather than suffer physical and mental degradation and intense pain does not deserve to be labelled as reprehensible by strangers a continent away who do not know her or the particulars of her situation.

"The 'culture of cure' has led to a fairy tale belief that doctors can always fix our problems."