Vermont votes to be 1st state to enshrine abortion rights in state constitution

Vermont on Tuesday became the first state to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution after voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure on Election Day.

More than 133,000 voters backed the ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights, making up about 72 percent of the votes counted so far, according to unofficial results from the Vermont secretary of state’s office.

Close to 42,000 people voted against the ballot measure, or about 22 percent of the votes counted. More than 9,000 people, or roughly 5 percent of the counted votes, left the question blank.

Abortion is already legal in Vermont through a 2019 law, but enshrining reproductive rights in the state constitution prevents the state legislature from restricting the right to an abortion in the future.

The issue became more pronounced this year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in June and about half of all states moved to restrict abortion access.

Vermont joined California and Michigan this election cycle in putting forward a ballot question to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.

While Vermont is the first to explicitly enshrine abortion rights through an amendment, in 10 states, high courts have ruled that the state constitution protects abortion rights independently from the U.S. Constitution.

The amendment to Vermont’s constitution reads, “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.”

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