The mother of a right-to-die advocate responded angrily to criticism from the Vatican of Brittany Maynard’s decision to end her life early under an Oregon law written to let terminally-ill patients die on their own terms.

The woman with brain cancer who revived a national debate in the US about physician-assisted suicide ended her life on Saturday by swallowing lethal drugs made available under an Oregon law allowing terminally ill people to choose when to die.

Brittany Maynard will not live to see if her advocacy makes a difference.