Around New England

All Nine Months and No Parental Consent — Vermont House Passes No-Restrictions Abortion Bill

February 22, 2019

The Vermont House of Representatives has approved a bill that allows abortions right up until birth and does not require parental consent for minors.

“We’re about to give 12-year-olds the right to get an abortion …” said state Representative Brian Smith (R-Derby), according to Seven Days.

Vermont House Bill 57 states:

“Every individual who becomes pregnant has the fundamental right to choose to carry a pregnancy to term, give birth to a child, or to have an abortion.”

It also states:

“A fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus shall not have independent rights under Vermont law.”

The Vermont House passed the bill 106-37 on Thursday, February 21, according to Seven Days, after rejecting amendments offered by Republicans that would have required the mother’s health to be at stake in order to allow abortions after 24 weeks, required parental consent for minors, required counseling for minors before they have an abortion, and required ultrasound for mothers considering abortion.

The bill that passed has no restrictions on abortion of any kind.

Democrats outnumber Republicans in the Vermont House, 95-43. (There are also 7 Progressives and 5 independents in the 150-member chamber.)

The bill now goes to the Vermont Senate.

Vermont Governor Phil Scott, a Republican, identifies as pro-legal-abortion, but he hasn’t stated a position on the abortion bill. Seven Days notes that the margin in the House to pass the bill and to reject all proposed amendments was more than two-to-one, meaning in theory it would be veto-proof.