Next week, Vermont voters could write abortion protections into the state constitution. But 50 years ago, Vermont was a state where most people went elsewhere to end a pregnancy.
The Vermont Supreme Court had legalized abortion in 1972, with its decision in Beecham v. Leahy. But while elective abortion was allowed, it remained elusive: The University of Vermont’s hospital, which came from a Catholic tradition, said it wouldn’t offer the procedure. Vermont hospitals did fewer than 20 abortions per year, and more than 1,000 patients traveled out-of-state annually to terminate a pregnancy.
So in just three months, in the short window between the Beecham judgment and the Roe decision, hundreds of people in the Burlington area — activists, faith leaders, hippies, bankers, lawyers — organized and created the Vermont Women’s Health Center. It was the first women-run health center of its kind in the United States.
The Health Center also created a unique apprenticeship program that enabled women to become physician assistants and to provide abortions. It trained UVM medical students and OB-GYN residents at a time when it was rare for medical schools to train students in abortion. It was written about in major medical journals. It survived a ballot referendum, a fire and an onslaught of out-of-state protesters.
The Women’s Health Center operated as a worker’s collective for years, and this episode includes just some of the women who worked and trained there over its nearly-thirty-year run. Rachel Atkins, Sue Burton, Berta Geller, Cate Nicholas and Janet, all physician assistants, discuss their work at the Health Center, and reflect on this post-Roe era. Allie Stickney, former CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, describes the first call she answered on a pre-Roe abortion hotline.
The fate of the "country doctor"
The high court's hydro decision
When Vermonters struggle with social isolation
How the DMV sells your data
Beyond the zinger: Welch and impeachment
Sweeping opioid litigation lands in Vermont
A.I. is out there. Can the state catch up?
An Amish enclave in the Northeast Kingdom [10/26/18]
How the trade war with China is costing Vermont businesses
Peter Galbraith on the 'catastrophe' in Syria
Where migrating Vermonters are going — and why
BONUS: David Sanger talks cyber warfare and national security in Manchester
Vermont officials and the Trump impeachment inquiry
Why Bill McKibben keeps fighting after 30 years
With F-35 landing scheduled, protesters press on
What Opportunity Zones mean for Vermont communities
Pollution victims bring Bennington's PFOA crisis to court
What changes after the church abuse report
James Adomian on being Bernie
Telcos face state scrutiny after Huawei expose
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