Abortion in Vermont is legal at all stages of pregnancy. A 2014 Pew Research Center poll showed 70% of adults in the state believed abortion should be legal in most or all cases, the second highest percentage in the country.[1] The state funds abortions deemed medically necessary for low-income women via Medicaid.[2]
In November 2022, voters overwhelmingly passed Proposal 5, the Reproductive Liberty Amendment, becoming the first U.S state to amend their constitution to explicitly include protections for abortion rights.[3][4][5]
History
Legislative history
By the end of the 1800s, all states in the Union except Louisiana had medical exceptions in their legislative bans on abortions.[6] In the 19th century, bans on abortion by state legislatures were largely about protecting the life of the mother given the number of deaths caused by abortions; state governments saw themselves as looking out for the lives of their citizens.[6]
In February 2019, Vermont House Human Services and Judiciary committees held public hearings about abortion in relation to H.57, a bill to establish reproductive rights in state law. Proposal 5, the Reproductive Liberty Amendment, an amendment to the state constitution to codify abortion rights, was passed by the state senate.[8][9] Receiving endorsements from Republican GovernorPhil Scott, Planned Parenthood, and ACLU Vermont, the amendment went before voters in November 2022 and overwhelmingly passed, with about 77% voting in favor. [3][4][10]
Amendment text
Personal reproductive liberty 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.
Between 1982 and 1992, the number of abortion clinics in the state declined by three, going from nineteen in 1982 to sixteen in 1992.[13] In 2014, there were six abortion clinics in the state.[14] 64% of the counties in the state did not have an abortion clinic. That year, 38% of women in the state aged 15–44 lived in a county without an abortion clinic.[15] In 2017, there were twelve Planned Parenthood clinics, of which six offered abortion services, in a state with a population of 136,459 women aged 15–49.[16]
Statistics
In the period between 1972 and 1974, there were zero recorded illegal abortion deaths in the state.[17] In 1990, 67,000 women in the state faced the risk of an unintended pregnancy.[13] In 2013, among white women aged 15–19, there were 190 abortions, 0 abortions for black women aged 15–19, 10 abortions for Hispanic women aged 15–19, and 10 abortions for women of all other races.[18] In 2014, 70% of adults said in a poll by the Pew Research Center that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.[1] In 2017, the state had an infant mortality rate of 5.9 deaths per 1,000 live births.[19]
Number of reported abortions, abortion rate and percentage change in rate by geographic region and state in 1992, 1995 and 1996[20]
Census division and state
Number
Rate
% change 1992–1996
Year
1992
1995
1996
1992
1995
1996
Total
1,528,930
1,363,690
1,365,730
25.9
22.9
22.9
–12
New England
78,360
71,940
71,280
25.2
23.6
23.5
–7
Connecticut
19,720
16,680
16,230
26.2
23
22.5
–14
Maine
4,200
2,690
2,700
14.7
9.6
9.7
–34
Massachusetts
40,660
41,190
41,160
28.4
29.2
29.3
3
New Hampshire
3,890
3,240
3,470
14.6
12
12.7
–13
Rhode Island
6,990
5,720
5,420
30
25.5
24.4
–19
Number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions for Vermont, by reporting area of residence and occurrence, with percentage of abortions obtained by out-of-state residents, US CDC estimates
^number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44; ^^number of abortions per 1,000 live births
Abortion financing
17 states including Vermont use their own funds to cover all or most medically necessary abortions sought by low-income women under Medicaid, 13 of which are required by State court orders to do so.[2] In 2010, the state had 699 publicly funded abortions, of which all were state funded and none were federally funded.[24]
Abortion rights views and activities
Protests
Montpelier, Vermont - Women's March.
Throughout the 2000s, women from the state participated in marches supporting abortion rights. One march was a part of a #StoptheBans movement in May 2019.[25][26]
^ abFrancis Roberta W. "Frequently Asked Questions". Equal Rights Amendment. Alice Paul Institute. Archived from the original on April 17, 2009. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
^Cates, Willard; Rochat, Roger (March 1976). "Illegal Abortions in the United States: 1972–1974". Family Planning Perspectives. 8 (2): 86–92. doi:10.2307/2133995. JSTOR2133995. PMID1269687.