This commentary is by Rep. Daisy Berbeco, D-Winooski, ranking member of the House Committee on Health Care and member of the House Discrimination Panel.
In 2022, the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, dismantling nearly 50 years of legal precedent and stripping away a fundamental civil right. Vermont voters responded by passing Article 22 to enshrine the right to reproductive liberty in our state constitution and shortly after, passed our state’s landmark shield laws (Acts 14 and 15 in 2024) which also protect gender-affirming care. In Vermont, abortion and gender-affirming care remain safe, legal, and a personal decision made between a patient and their medical provider.
Shield laws provide protection from tactics that are used to harass and harm those seeking and those providing gender-affirming or reproductive care. There are currently 23 states and the District of Columbia that have shield laws related to reproductive health care, and 17 states and the District of Columbia. have shield laws related to gender-affirming care.
As national attacks on women and LGBTQ+ folks escalate, Vermont continues to stand on the right side of history with compassion, clarity, and strength. With the passage of S.28, we take the next critical step: tightening and strengthening our shield law protections to ensure they are clear, enforceable and resilient.
Most importantly, S.28 protects privacy. It limits disclosure of health information that could be used to criminalize legally protected care, and it creates clear guardrails around what can be shared in public records and federal investigations. These provisions send a message to patients that they are not alone. They send a message to our care providers that we care for them, too.
This legislation updates our shield laws to fill important technical gaps. It ensures that if a health care provider acts lawfully in another shield state, they are protected here in Vermont. For example, if it is legal to get an abortion in New York and a doctor provides that service there, as long as it is also legal in Vermont to do that, we will protect them when they are in Vermont under our shield law.
S.28 also clarifies what constitutes unprofessional conduct, including deceptive advertising and service misrepresentation, and applies those standards across all professions. Health care delivery evolves, but we must maintain high-quality, accurate and equitable access to care.
In a time when other states are actively criminalizing care, Vermont is doubling down on human rights. We are saying that your gender, your identity and your health care decisions should never make you a target. We are responding to a national narrative with a different story, one where dignity, autonomy and truth still matter.
We are protecting the people who need them and the professionals who provide them. That is the kind of leadership Vermonters deserve — and that is why I support S.28. I urge the governor to sign it without delay.
