Vatican condemns Brittany suicide

(ANSA) - Vatican City, November 4 - A senior Vatican official on Tuesday condemned the suicide of American brain cancer sufferer Brittany Maynard at the weekend. "We don't judge people, but the gesture in itself is to be condemned," Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, told ANSA. "Assisted suicide is an absurdity. Dignity is something different to putting an end to your own life".
    Maynard, a 29-year-old American afflicted with terminal brain cancer, announced weeks ago that she was planning to end her life. The video Maynard posted on Youtube in conjunction with the non-profit Compassion & Choices, in which she announced her decision, has been viewed 9.8 million times and made her a key advocate in the US's right-to-die movement.