Montpelier, Vt., Jan 25, 2019 / 12:01 pm
A bill was introduced in the Vermont House of Representatives Tuesday that would prohibit public entities from interfering with or restricting women's access to abortion.
The Freedom of Choice Act, H.57, was introduced Jan. 22 by Reps. Ann Pugh and Maxine Grad. It has 91 co-sponsors in the 150-member body, and was referred to the Committee on Human Services.
The bill is meant to "safeguard the right to abortion" by ensuring it is not "denied, restricted, or infringed."
It asserts that "every individual" has a fundamental right to choose or refuse contraception or sterilization, that "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", and that "a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus shall not have independent rights under Vermont law."