Vermont governor signs 1st-in-nation shield bills that explicitly include medicated abortion

Vermont's Republican governor signed abortion and gender affirming shield bills into law Wednesday that are the first in the country to explicitly include protecting access to a medication widely used in abortions even if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration withdraws its approval of the pill, mifepristone.

The bills protect providers from discipline for providing legally protected reproductive and gender affirming health care services.

“Today, we reaffirm once again that Vermont stands on the side of privacy, personal autonomy and reproductive liberty, and that providers are free to practice without fear,” Republican Gov. Phil Scott said in a statement.

In the identical bills passed by the House and Senate, “reproductive health care services” includes “medication that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for termination of a pregnancy as of January 1, 2023, regardless of the medication’s current FDA approval status.” Planned Parenthood believes other states' shield laws will cover the issue but that Vermont’s law makes it explicit, according to Lucy Leriche, of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.