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.

Efforts regarding Death with Dignity:

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.

Efforts regarding Death with Dignity:

• On Wednesday, the Vermont Senate approved a Death with Dignity bill. The bill now faces two more hurdles: the House needs to concur with the Senate version and the Governor needs to sign it. The House vote is slated to take place tomorrow.
• Vermont Representative Kate Webb stated why she supports Death with Dignity in the Shelburne News.
• In an interview with the New York Daily News, Death with Dignity National Center executive director Peg Sandeen talked about the often hidden source of opposition to Death with Dignity laws.
• The Huffington Post picked up Peg's interview as well.
• Vermont's historic efforts attracted the notice of USA Today.

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.

Efforts regarding Death with Dignity:

• The Vermont House of Representatives passed a Death with Dignity bill! The bill still has a ways to go, and VTDigger explored the different paths it may take.
• Death with Dignity National Center executive director Peg Sandeen was interviewed by The Washington Times. The interview was published over two days: part 1 and part 2.
• A UK poll found overwhelming support for Death with Dignity among people of most religious faiths. Of those supporting a change in the law, 82% agreed that an "individual has the right to choose when and how to die".
• A poll in Canada found the majority of Albertans "felt dying adults should have the right to end their life early."
• Cate Faehrmann introduced an assisted death bill for consideration by the Parliament of New South Wales in Australia. Watch the video of her speech to Parliament to learn why. Greg Piper explained why he supports changing the laws around assisted death in Australia.

Vermont took another step toward allowing terminally ill people to decide the manner and timing of their deaths through a safeguarded process. Today, the Vermont House approved a bill emulating the time-tested Oregon and Washington Death with Dignity Acts by a vote of 81-64. The path has been a long one, and it still has a ways to go before a final version would be presented to Governor Shumlin.

Since its introduction to the full Senate for debate earlier this year, the proposed bill has taken a meandering path. In the Senate, the bill was drastically amended before being approved and sent to the state House. In the House, the Senate bill was introduced and referred to the House Human Services Committee for consideration.

After listening to hours of expert testimony, the committee voted to restore the original bill's safeguards, bringing it more in line with the existing Death with Dignity laws. Because of the changes to the structure of the bill, the House Judiciary Committee had to go through it with a fine tooth comb to make sure the proposed bill would work with existing Vermont laws.