Peter Malbin -February 8, 2022
Vermont may become the first state to pass a constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right to abortion and contraception.
If it’s passed, the proposed amendment, Proposition 5, will go to Republican Gov. Phil Scott, who is required to give public notice of the measure before it appears on the ballot in November, The Washington Post reported.
The proposal comes in anticipation of a key Supreme Court ruling on abortion expected this summer that may overturn or significantly weaken Roe v. Wade.
Fifteen states have passed laws preserving the right to abortion, including, most recently, New Jersey, but no other state has enshrined the right to abortion in its constitution, The Washington Post noted.
“We are hoping to be a model for other states to follow,” said Lucy Leriche, vice president of Vermont Public Policy at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. “In states all over the country, politicians are moving to take away reproductive rights, specifically abortion rights, and we could be an example of another way.”
Republican lawmakers and lobbyists in Vermont say the amendment is “extreme.”
Proposition 5 guarantees the right to “reproductive autonomy,” a term Republican State Representative Anne Donahue said is too vague, allowing future courts to interpret the amendment more broadly than legislators intended.
The amendment passed both the House and Senate in 2019 and was approved again in the Senate in 2021. Proposition 5 gained more momentum when the Supreme Court indicated its willingness to reconsider Roe v. Wade in oral arguments in December.