Having worked in health care for years, having had a difficult labour culminating in a c-section and an unfortunate experience with breast cancer, I agree wholeheartedly. There are so many moral judgments passed about how someone handles an illness (“She fought bravely.” What if one doesn’t fight bravely…does that make her cowardly?); about the treatments one chooses (“If she had only chosen homeopathy, she would be healthy today” Really?); about how someone dies (“It was a good death”: man, have I seen some bad ones.); and so many other “shoulds” from frivolous and smug onlookers that speak to this myth of empowerment. Thanks for this.