Two abortion-rights measures took significant steps forward in Vermont’s Legislature Tuesday, as supporters argued that the state must enact protections that are eroding nationally.
Proposal 5, a state constitutional amendment protecting “personal reproductive autonomy,” passed the House on a 106-38 vote. And the Senate gave preliminary approval on a 24-6 vote to H.57, a bill that says state government can’t hinder access to abortion.
Both pieces of legislation were spurred by concerns that political and judicial changes at the federal level could jeopardize the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in 1973.
“Without protections in Roe v. Wade, women do not have any reassurance that they will have continued access to family planning, to basic health care, to abortion,” said Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden, chair of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.
But others say the state is going too far, particularly in regard to Proposal 5’s potential changes to the Constitution. Rep. James Gregoire, R-Fairfield, noted that abortion is still “completely legal in Vermont.”
“Amending the constitution is unnecessary,” Gregoire said. “Opening up this process should remain a last resort. This is not a last-resort scenario.”
While the two abortion bills are moving concurrently through the Legislature, they have different schedules for implementation.
H.57 would be effective upon passage, whereas Proposal 5 still has a long way to go: The Legislature must again consider the measure in the 2021-2022 biennium, and then it would go to Vermonters for a popular vote in 2022.
If voters agree, Proposal 5 would add the following language to Vermont’s constitution: “That an individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one’s own life course and shall not be denied or infringed unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
The amendment cleared its first two hurdles easily. It passed the Senate 28-2 last month and didn’t face a serious challenge on Tuesday in the House.
Rep. Ann Pugh, D-South Burlington and chair of the House Human Services Committee, said the state “has a long history and tradition of embracing reproductive autonomy, including not restricting abortions.”
“We have long recognized that decisions related to reproductive health care and abortion are deeply personal and private and are best left to a woman and her doctor,” Pugh said.
Supporters of Proposal 5 – both Democratic and Republican – also underscored the importance of allowing the public to weigh in on the matter.
“The Vermont constitution belongs to all Vermonters, and as such, all voters deserve the right to decide if this proposal should be in their constitution,” said Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Chittenden.
But some critics questioned whether the one-sentence amendment is too vague. Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, said she was troubled by the potentially open-ended meaning of “reproductive autonomy.”
“It’s a term far more open to interpretation and, in fact, could mean a great many things that we don’t currently envision,” Donahue said.
Rep. Cynthia Browning, D-Arlington, had a different reason for voting against the constitutional amendment: She said she’s heard from constituents who are concerned about promising to uphold the state Constitution as part of an elected official’s oath of office if Proposal 5 passes.
“I’m incredulous that we would be adding a constitutional amendment to protect the rights of abortion with no consideration for Vermonters who cannot support that position,” Browning said.
Browning said she voted for H.57 previously, “but I don’t want to change the Vermont Constitution in a way that we may regret if we at some point change our definition of who has those rights – who has reproductive autonomy.”
The story was similar in the Senate, where some senators who had supported Proposal 5 last month decided to vote against H.57. They included Sen. Randy Brock, R-Franklin, who said he’s concerned that the statutory change opens the door to more later-term abortions.
While that’s not current practice in Vermont, “that’s today. It doesn’t mean that’s tomorrow,” Brock said.
Sen. Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, last month said he supported Proposal 5 because he also supports Roe v. Wade. But Benning said there’s no “balancing test” in H.57 that allows the state to intervene in abortion if there’s a compelling interest to do so, as Proposal 5 allows.
“I just can’t reach that place that says a perfectly healthy baby is not entitled to any consideration…despite what the United States Supreme Court said in Roe v. Wade,” Benning said.
But Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, said Vermont’s balancing test “will be made by the pregnant woman and her medical team.”
“I have faith not only in the women of Vermont, but in our medical practice and our medical practitioners,” White said.
H.57 requires one more vote in the Senate before it goes back to the House to consider minor changes made by the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.
The committee changed legislative-intent language to say health care practitioners in Vermont “make determinations regarding the provision of safe and legal abortion within the scope of their practice and license, and in accordance with the relevant standards of medical practice and guiding ethical principles.”
