Throughout the week, we keep people up-to-date with information about the Death with Dignity movement and other topics related to end-of-life care through Facebook and Twitter. Below are highlights from this week.

Assisted death in the US:

• Dignity 2012 started the next step in the long, winding road to the November Massachusetts ballot, and the Boston Globe published an in-depth article on the state's proposed Death with Dignity Act.
• The Vermont State Legislature is scheduled to adjourn for the year tomorrow with the proposed Death with Dignity legislation still held in committee by a small number of Senators who oppose the bill. While this isn't the outcome we were hoping for or what Patient Choices Vermont was working toward, there were some excellent events surrounding the legislation. Read more from Patient Choices Vermont Executive Director Dick Walters about the progress which was made during the 2011-2012 legislative session, and catch up on details of the Vermont effort on our blog.
• Washington Department of Health issued their 2011 annual report for usage of the state's Death with Dignity Act. Like in Oregon, the statistics continue to show the law is seldom used, and working the way it's intended. Oregon Public Broadcasting aired a touching piece, "One Story Behind Washington 2011 Death With Dignity Act Statistics".
• Unfortunately, Georgia's Governor Nathan Deal signed into law the state's new ban on "assisted suicide".

Discussions about death, dying, and grieving:

• The Washington Post republished Amy Berman's article from HealthAffairs, "Terminal breast cancer leads woman to pick palliative care, not aggressive therapy". Berman is a health foundation executive who received a diagnosis of terminal breast cancer and, with the help of a doctor who respects her goals, is forgoing aggressive treatment in favor of palliative care.
• AARP shared Dr. Peter Goodwin's legacy through their blog.