I support Vermont’s Reproductive Liberty Amendment (Proposition 5). Nationally, reproductive liberty protections under the U.S. Constitution are threatened by the radical actions of the U.S. Supreme Court. Amending the Vermont Constitution, our state’s strongest legal document, will protect the reproductive liberty of all Vermonters.

This includes the right to become pregnant, carry a pregnancy to term, and to choose or refuse contraception, sterilization and abortion care. Amending the Vermont Constitution to include the Reproductive Liberty Amendment, through the votes of Vermonters in November 2022, will ratify the amendment and make it much harder to overturn than a law.

The Reproductive Liberty Amendment would protect every Vermonter’s right to make their own reproductive decisions as it pertains to their own bodily autonomy. The Vermont Attorney General’s Office states that the Reproductive Liberty Amendment would not allow anyone to force their contraceptive or reproductive choices on another. Ultimately, it is the pregnant person’s right to choose what to do with their body.

Reproductive liberty gives us all the right to choose what is best for our own body and our own lives. So under the amendment, a biological father’s liberty includes the right to choose or refuse contraception and sterilization. He cannot force a person to carry their pregnancy to term because he cannot force his choice on any other individual. When two individuals have conflicting rights, courts will weigh each of the interests at stake and come to a solution, which is something people have been trusting courts to do for quite some time. However, it would not allow an individual to successfully sue to force any other individual to become pregnant or carry a pregnancy to term.

Roe v. Wade is at risk of being overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. This is one reason why it is necessary for Vermont to amend its Constitution to include Proposal 5, the Reproductive Liberty Amendment.

I pledge to vote yes on Prop 5 on Election Day to protect each Vermonter’s right to choose what is best for their own body, and to have the liberty to choose or refuse reproductive health services, and to solidify our reproductive liberty in the Vermont Constitution. I hope you will join me to allow yourself, your children, your family and friends, and ALL Vermonters to have the freedom to choose what is right for them.

Thank you so much!

Caitlin Porter

Addison