The good citizens of Vermont have voted overwhelmingly to secure reproductive liberty—specifically abortion rights—in the state’s constitution. With 72% of the vote counted, it’s a blowout: 76% in favor to 24% against. Abortion is legal in Vermont; this measure secures it and protects the reproductive choice from being banned by future legislatures.
The state constitution will now say, “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.”
As of this writing, abortion rights measures in California and Michigan are passing, and voters in Kentucky and Montana are rejecting efforts by Republicans to ban or restrict abortions in those states’ constitutions. You can follow those results here.
Joan McCarter
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