VERGENNES — In November 2022, Vermonters voted decisively in favor of amending the state’s constitution to protect reproductive rights, including the right to abortion. The road to that decision was a long one, requiring years-worth of legislative efforts that drew passionate campaigning for and against the measure.

The vote also came just months after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe V. Wade, overturning the federal constitutional right to abortion.

Vergennes filmmaker Chris Spencer and his team have spent the past few years working on “Unintended,” a documentary that captures the lead up to and passage of the Reproductive Liberty Amendment, as well as its aftermath.

CHRIS SPENCER

The team recently launched a crowdfunding campaign seeking to raise $19,000 to support post-production work to complete the film.

“Obviously I am a man, and I don’t have a direct linkage to abortion, but I also feel like … this has become such a politicized topic that everyone seems to have an opinion on it,” Spencer said of the project. “Predominantly men that are in powerful fields seem to feel like they can exert power and a sense of control over this idea without really having any understanding of the nuance of what this is all about.”

“(The project) was really an opportunity to speak to lots of people to better ground myself in this idea of abortion in particular, but also the idea of reproductive autonomy and liberty, because as I talked to folks that were for this amendment, it seemed like that was the broader sense of what this was about,” he continued.

Spencer previously collaborated with his wife, Erin Wolcott, on “The Price of Safety,” a feature-length documentary film exploring “national conversations of over-policing and racial bias” as they unfolded in the Vergennes community where they live.

After releasing that film, Spencer wasn’t initially planning to take on another project. Then a neighbor pitched him an idea for a new film — one focusing on efforts to pass the Reproductive Liberty Amendment in Vermont.

The measure, also known as Article 22 or Proposal 5, added language to the state’s constitution protecting an individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy, such as the right to abortion, contraception and other reproductive healthcare.

“As I started to research it further, I got even more interested when I realized how high of a bar it is in Vermont to pass a constitutional amendment,” Spencer said.

He noted that Vermont has amended its constitution just 53 times over 200-plus years, compared to about 150 times in New Hampshire and around 500 amendments in California.

“Vermont can only look at passing a constitutional amendment every four years, so this isn’t something that happens often here,” he said. “Vermont’s (constitution) is a very static document, and here we were considering enshrining a very broad-based perspective on reproductive access and autonomy, and so I was like, ‘Yeah, I want to follow this.’”

MAKING THE FILM

Spencer began the project in 2021 and spent the next year documenting efforts pushing for and against the amendment. He interviewed around 25 people, from lawyers to doctors to lawmakers. They included state Sen. Ruth Hardy, Middlebury College Economics Professor Caitlin Myers and Bristol residents Lynn and Lloyd Dike. Lloyd Dike later died in December 2023.

VERGENNES FILMMAKER CHRIS Spencer is finalizing “Unintended,” a documentary about Vermont’s Reproductive Liberty Amendment.

Similar to his last project, the documentary allowed Spencer to explore a complex topic. He’d learned a lot about getting people to speak openly on controversial issues with “The Price of Safety,” skills he brought into this latest project.

“Often when I see films about topics like this, it’s very much slanted in one way or another; it isn’t really necessarily giving an audience an opportunity to hear a perspective they’re not typically going to hear in their own world or bubble that they live in,” he said. “What I’m trying to do with this film is, not necessarily put it 50-50 split, but certainly share perspectives throughout the film that people might not often hear.”

At first he focused on capturing the historic moment from a policy standpoint. That approach changed after his wife gave birth to the couple’s first child in 2023.

“I came back to (the film) in 2024 and I think my entire mentality over this entire topic had just shifted because I had just gone through this profound, life-changing moment myself by having a kid,” he said. “I just recognized how deeply impacted people can be by policy decisions.”

Spencer and his team sought to highlight those human stories behind the amendment. The film features the stories of two women — Kelli, who navigated an unexpected pregnancy as a teenager, and Carolyn, who had an abortion due to a fatal genetic disorder known as Meckel-Gruber Syndrome.   

“The film, over 75 minutes, interweaves this last year of the amendment with these two stories, and hopefully, gives people a sense of … what this amendment can mean and why policymakers are trying to enact this, and then also grounding it in personalized stories that give people a sense of the impact of that policy decision,” Spencer said.

He noted the film’s title refers to both the personal, unique experience of navigating an unplanned pregnancy, as well as a frequent concern of people opposed to the amendment.

“What they believed was the strongest argument was this idea that there were going to be profound, unintended consequences to such a broad amendment being proposed by the state,” he explained. “This language to them felt so vague that there were going to be profound repercussions and unintended consequences for decades to come.”

ENGAGING THOUGHTFULLY

Along with documenting Vermont’s historic move to enshrine reproductive rights in its constitution, the film is also aimed at encouraging community members to thoughtfully engage with each other on issues they may be divided on.

“We are living in a hyper-pressurized world where it’s really easy to read the headlines or to get consumed by an algorithm and only get fed a specific perspective, but there is so much value in talking to others that you might disagree with,” Spencer said. “It doesn’t mean that my opinions have necessarily shifted away from where I feel, but I think it at least roots us in a better, healthier democracy.”

Inspiring such conversations is one impact Spencer hopes the film has on its viewers.

SIGNS ON THE Middlebury town green encourage residents to vote for or against Vermont’s Reproductive Liberty Amendment, which passed in November 2022 and protected reproductive rights in the state’s constitution. The journey to that historic vote and the personal stories behind the amendment are the focus of “Unintended,” a documentary directed by Vergennes filmmaker Chris Spencer.
Photo courtesy of Chris Spencer

“I also try to leave a little bit of space, too, to say it’s not all buttoned up,” he said. “Just because Vermont passed this amendment doesn’t mean the work is done, and I try to get that point across very clearly when it comes to equity when it comes to abortion access.”

The filmmaking team is now looking to raise funds to support completion of the film. The crowdfunding campaign aims to raise $19,000 by Nov. 8, which would go toward post-production work like hiring a professional colorist, legal expenses and submitting the film to festivals.

Spencer noted Vermont professionals would be hired to tackle that work. The filmmaking team also includes multiple local residents, with James Chase Sanchez, Nancy Haffner and Kate Youngdahl-Stauss serving as writer/producers on the project.

Spencer expressed gratitude for the filmmaking team and those who have supported the project.

“Documentary storytelling is time consuming and unprofitable. My co-producers and I have independently produced, shot, and edited this film, so far, without funding. I’m very grateful they saw the promise of the project and wanted to help bring it to the screen,” he said. “As we embark on this crowdfunding campaign, I’m also touched by the support from family, friends and neighbors. Filmmaking truly is a team effort, and this film has proven that.”

The team hopes to release the film sometime early next year, first screening at film festivals and later making the documentary free to watch for all viewers.

To learn more about the project or support the campaign visit bit.ly/unintendedthefilm.