PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Brittany Maynard’s mother is responding angrily to the Vatican’s criticism of Maynard’s decision to end her life early under an Oregon law written to let terminally ill patients die on their own terms.

Days after Maynard’s Nov. 1 death at age 29, the Vatican’s top bioethics official called her choice “reprehensible” and said physician-assisted suicide should be condemned.

Maynard’s mother, Debbie Ziegler, issued a sharp written response Tuesday. She says the Vatican official’s comments came as the family was grieving and were “more than a slap in the face.”

Her response was made through Compassion & Choices, an advocacy group that Maynard worked with.

Maynard had brain cancer and used her story to speak out for the right of terminally ill people like herself to end their lives on their own terms. Some religious groups and social conservatives also have criticized her decision.