Vermont is the latest state to move toward allowing unlimited abortion. On February 21, the Vermont House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow a woman to obtain an abortion at any stage of pregnancy up until birth — and for any reason.
“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,” states H57, which was co-sponsored by 90 Democrat lawmakers and passed in the House on a 106-36 vote.
Additionally, the bill would strip pre-born babies of all rights with the language: “A fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus shall not have independent rights under Vermont law.”
Vermont is the most recent state to move to codify abortion “rights” into law in anticipation that the U.S. Supreme Court may at some point overturn Roe v. Wade. New York passed a similar law in mid-January, and other Democrat-controlled state legislatures are marshaling their lawmakers to put such measures on the books.
“This bill is really about saying that we trust Vermonters with their own health care decisions in the privacy of their own doctors’ offices,” said one of the bill’s sponsors, Democrat House Speaker Mitzi Johnson.
Meagan Gallagher, president of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, cheered the effort, declaring the murderous legislation “will ensure that women are able to make private medical decisions with the advice of health care professionals they trust, without the interference of politicians.”
Mary Hahn Beerworth, executive director of Vermont Right to Life, responded to the vote by saying: “It is official. The Vermont Democrat Party now holds the dubious distinction of being the party of unlimited, unrestricted and unregulated abortion-on-demand throughout pregnancy. Pro-abortion legislators walked in lock step with Planned Parenthood and the ACLU as they read on the House floor the talking points that were rather obviously provided to them by both pro-abortion organizations.”
Republican Vermont lawmakers attempted to introduce a number of amendments to the bill, including a requirement for a woman to receive an ultrasound before an abortion, and another that would require a minor to receive parental consent before having an abortion. Predictably, all attempts at reason were rebuffed by the Democrat majority.
In rebuffing the proposed amendment requiring minors to receive parental consent, Democrat Representative Robin Chestnut insisted that “to require a young woman to turn to her family is not necessarily in her welfare.”
Pro-life Republican Representative Marianna Gamache responded by saying, “It astounds me that you cannot in school give a child an aspirin because they might have a negative reaction to it, but at the same time it is perfectly fine to tell a child, ‘If you are pregnant and want an abortion, that’s great. Don’t worry about telling your parents.’”
The bill now moves to the Vermont State Senate, that has a pro-abortion Democrat majority of lawmakers eager to move the legislation on to pro-abortion Democrat Governor Phil Scott, who has indicated his eagerness to sign the bill into law.
Scott earlier said that he is “supportive of a woman’s right to choose, and I’m supportive of Roe v. Wade.” He added that the bill “is in response to federal action, or the federal fear of action, to roll back Roe v. Wade, and I think that should be protected.”
Fox News reported that a companion bill to H57 would protect any health care worker who performs an abortion from facing “any civil, criminal, or administrative liability and penalty.”
Pro-life activists argue that the legislation amounts to an open invitation to abortionists such as Kermit Gosnell, who was convicted of killing newborn babies in his Philadelphia abortion clinic in 2013.
“Planned Parenthood says trust us, and everybody loves Planned Parenthood here,” said Vermont Right to Life’s Mary Hahn Beerworth. “They’ve dominated the state for decades. But they’re not thinking, or they don’t care, that somebody could just move here tomorrow and undercut Planned Parenthood for price and run a Gosnell-like clinic.”
LifeNews.com cited national surveys demonstrating that such radical legislation is totally out of touch with the values of most Americans. “According to a national poll by Marist University, three in four Americans (75 percent) say abortion should be limited to — at most — the first three months of pregnancy,” reported the pro-life news site. “This includes most Republicans (92 percent), Independents (78 percent) and Democrats (60 percent). It also includes more than six in 10 (61 percent) who identify as ‘pro-choice’ on abortion.”
Graphic: Vepar5/iStock/Getty Images Plus
