BRATTLEBORO — Now that the ongoing war on women is at full throttle and the protection of Roe v. Wade has been undermined and nearly eliminated altogether by our highest court, it is way past the time for reproductive justice in this country.
To facilitate reproductive justice, where do we start?
We all can start by educating ourselves and others. One might want to learn specifically about trigger bans and the countless laws that are introduced across the U.S. every year that criminalize women's bodies. One of the most dangerous laws, in Texas, has established a bounty system.
Vermont voters can engage in a more specific action and pledge in advance to vote “yes” on Proposition 5, or the Vermont Reproductive Liberty Amendment.
The Vermont RLA aims to amend our state constitution with language that protects reproductive liberty for all. Not only will this amendment guarantee the right to choose in Vermont for generations to come, it will also offer protection against forced sterilization. (Yes, sadly, we need that, too.)
The war on women has also historically denied prescribed birth control to specific populations, including incarcerated people. This amendment will address that as well.
The pledges collected as electronic signatures will be given to state representatives when they return in January, partially as support from their constituents, but mostly as a reminder that we are counting on them to make sure the Reproductive Liberty Amendment gets on the November 2022 general ballot.
Here is a link where you can learn and electronically sign to pledge your future vote, visit reprolibertyvt.org.
If we vote to pass this amendment in November, we can potentially set a new trend across the country. Other states can follow Vermont's lead and carve reproductive liberty into their respective constitutions as well.
Then countless Americans will get free from the oppression of endless body bans, from perverted reproductive laws, and maybe even from the bounties that have not been stayed by our Supreme Court.