MONTPELIER, Vermont (LifeSiteNews) — The Vermont House of Representatives gave its approval to a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would formally codify a “right” to abortion.
Proposal 5, the so-called Reproductive Liberty Amendment, declares 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.”
NBC 5 reported that the House voted 107-41 on Tuesday to approve the amendment, which will now be submitted to voters for final approval on the November ballot.
“Access to reproductive rights is under attack in this country,” state House Speaker Jill Krowinski claimed. “The Supreme Court may very well be overturning Roe v. Wade and it was important for us to take a stand and ensure reproductive rights were enshrined in our constitution.”
The Vermont Right to Life Committee warned that Proposal 5 “is likely to be interpreted” by left-wing judges to mean that “taxpayers must: Pay for abortions. Pay for sterilizations and sterilization reversals. Pay for the expenses associated with infertility and surrogacy. Fund pro-abortion organizations, like Planned Parenthood.”
Vermont Right to Life executive director Mary Beerworth has previously observed that such an amendment would be overkill, as the Vermont Supreme Court established state-level abortion “rights” similar to Roe v. Wade’s in the 1972 case Beecham v. Leahy.
Still, abortion allies at both the state and federal levels have vigorously pursued such measures in recent years in anticipation of the possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court might overturn Roe in its upcoming decision about Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban.