Rep. Wood: Voters to decide two constitutional amendments

Feb. 17, 2022  |  By Rep. Theresa Wood

It’s hard to believe that we are approaching the second anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic.  And as we do so, all of the towns I represent have made the decision to alter their traditional Town Meeting Day activities. I will miss the opportunity to have some of the great conversations at the Waterbury Town Meeting. However, be on the lookout for a Zoom opportunity to check in with Rep. Tom Stevens and me in the near future.

When we go to the polls in November (or vote by mail) we will have the opportunity to vote on two amendments to the Vermont Constitution.  Proposition 2 makes it clear that any form of slavery or indentured servitude are not legal and Proposition 5 insures an individual’s personal reproductive liberty.  Proposition 5 was considered in my committee, House Human Services, before being voted on by the full House of Representatives.

The first thing that is important to understand is that the Legislature does not decide if these amendments become part of the Vermont Constitution – you, the voters of Vermont, will decide.  My vote represented the belief that Vermont voters should have the ultimate decision, as required by the Vermont Constitution.  

Here is the actual language of Proposition 5, one sentence, which will be on the ballot in November:  “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.”

I have received quite a bit of correspondence from people favoring and opposing this amendment. There is no questioning that for many voting on this amendment is an emotional and very personal decision. It does not change – or expand in any way – Vermont’s medical standards or current practices when it comes to reproductive health care, including abortions. Prop. 5 does not authorize abortions performed days or hours away from birth as described in some of the correspondence I have received. So-called “partial birth abortions” were banned by a 2003 federal law and upheld by the Supreme Court in 2007. Abortions later in pregnancy — those performed up to 24 weeks — rarely happen in Vermont, only when medically necessary (i.e., to save the life of the mother or if the fetus cannot survive outside the womb) and must conform to ethics guidelines at the provider’s hospital. 

Another concern that some have voiced is with regard to the ability of medical professionals to follow their own conscience. All hospitals in Vermont are recipients of federal funding and therefore must comply with certain federal laws, including the Church Amendments, which protect health care providers’ “rights of conscience” to refuse to participate in providing care that violates their religious or moral convictions — including abortions. This will not change.

This amendment is not gender specific and it is not only applicable to women. It applies to everyone and is intended to protect the ability to seek reproductive health care for all. All healthcare, including reproductive healthcare, is a personal matter that involves the individual and their healthcare provider. It does not, and should not, involve government.

Rep. Theresa Wood. Photo by Gordon Miller

The Vermont Constitution writers envisioned that the document would be amended (see Chapter II, Section 72 of the Vermont Constitution), as it has been several times. The most recent was in 2010 when the voting age was lowered. It is meant to be a living document to reflect Vermonters’ voices and those voices will be heard in November.

Rep. Theresa Wood, D-Waterbury, is one of two state representatives for the Washington-Chittenden district representing Waterbury, Bolton, Huntington and Buel’s Gore. She is vice chair of the House Committee on Human Services.