Proposed amendment ruled not ‘germane’ to the bill
By Guy Page
H89, the Abortion/transgender service provider shield bill, passed the Vermont House last week and now goes to the Senate. It protects providers of both services from virtually any legal consequences related to the performance of their work.
Rep. Anne Donahue (R-Northfield) was among the 13 no votes (all Republicans except Democrat Dennis LaBounty of Caledonia County). Her proposed amendment to provide legal and employment protections for medical professionals who choose not to participate in either service on the grounds of conscience was ruled not germane (relevant) to the bill by Acting Speaker Rep. Emily Long, and no vote was taken.
In her remarks following the vote, Donahue explained: “I cannot support a bill to protect those who choose to provide legally protected services when we – as one of only two states in the country – refuse to equally protect those who choose not to provide services for reasons of conscience. This bill makes some sense to protect providers against any chilling effect of laws in other states that are contrary to our laws and public policy, and I do not disagree with that concept. However, it lacks balance when it fails to protect providers against the chilling effect of the lack of legal protection in our state for their decisions to not participate in some services for ethical reasons, so I vote ‘no’.”
H89 would:
- Define legally protected health care activity to include reproductive health care services and gender-affirming health care;
- Exempt cases involving tortious interference with legally protected health care activity from the SLAPP statute;
- Prohibit civil arrest of a person for purposes of abusive litigation concerning legally protected health care activity;
- Establish a new cause of action regarding tortious interference with legally protected health care activity;
- Prohibit a court from ordering a person to give testimony or a statement or produce documents or other things for use in connection with abusive litigation involving legally protected health care activity;
- Prohibit a public agency from cooperating in an interstate investigation or proceeding seeking to impose civil or criminal liability upon a person or entity for obtaining or providing legally protected health care;
- Establish a misdemeanor crime for using force or threat of force or physical obstruction to interfere with someone obtaining or providing legally protected health care; prohibit the extradition of a nonfugitive person in connection with abusive litigation in another jurisdiction;
- Prohibit a court from issuing a summons when a prosecution is pending in another state concerning legally protected health care activity or where a grand jury investigation concerning legally protected health care activity has commenced or is about to commence for a criminal violation of a law of the other state unless the acts forming the basis of the prosecution or investigation would also constitute an offense if occurring entirely in Vermont; and
- Expand eligibility to the Address Confidentiality Program to a person providing, assisting another person in obtaining, or obtaining for themselves reproductive health care services or gender-affirming health care services.
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