Vermonters overwhelmingly voted to enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution in 2022. But what if those rights – to abortion, birth control and other reproductive health services – are nearly impossible to access?

Putting care out of reach appears to be the strategy behind the Trump administration’s relentless assault on Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider of reproductive health care. President Trump’s “big beautiful bill” that he signed into law on July 4 includes a provision to defund Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide abortions. A federal judge has temporarily blocked this provision, but if the Trump administration prevails, Planned Parenthood says that numerous health care centers may close, mostly in states where abortion remains legal.

This compounds a problem in Vermont, since half of Planned Parenthood’s clinics in the state have closed in the last three years due to an ongoing financial crisis with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE).

Medicaid already bans funding for abortions. Most of Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid patients who obtain family planning services receive birth control and STI testing. One in four Planned Parenthood patients in Vermont and Maine are insured by Medicaid, and one in five in New Hampshire.

“The absurdity of all of this is just so transparent,” Nicole Clegg, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, told The Vermont Conversation. “We have long-lasting relationships with our patients. We could be their main provider for years … and to suddenly be told, ‘Sorry, you can't go to that provider anymore because they also provide abortion care’ — that's what's happening here. That's the goal.”

Clegg emphasized that “the overwhelming majority of what we're providing to patients are disease testing and treatment, cancer screenings, wellness exams, birth control. Those are the primary needs that people have during their reproductive years.”

Abortion opponents are “no longer interested in the states where they've been successful in banning abortion. They're now really focused on the states where abortion is still legal, so that includes Vermont, and what they're trying to do is go after providers. So that's the new tactic,” Clegg said.

She noted that people seeking an abortion in states where it is banned are increasingly coming to New England for care. She told the story of a couple seeking an abortion who drove from Oklahoma to Vermont “because they felt like that was going to be the safest option for them.”

“We live in an area of the country where we are a little bit insulated from this fear, but this fear is very real.”

What is motivating the attacks?

“It's about abortion. It's about controlling people and their ability to make decisions and decide when to have a family,” Clegg replied.

A 2024 Pew survey found that two out of three Americans – and 79% of Vermonters – believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

“We needed to sort of wake people up by having them lose these basic rights. That's where we are right now.”

One in three women have received care from Planned Parenthood in their lifetime, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. 

“There's just no other healthcare provider in our country that has that kind of reach and impact,” Clegg said.

I asked Clegg what a world without Planned Parenthood would look like. She cited research on what has happened in areas where a Planned Parenthood health center has closed.

“Worse pregnancy outcomes. Increased rates of cancer. Increased rates of unintended pregnancy. Untreated sexually transmitted diseases. Increased rates of HIV and AIDS.”

Will Planned Parenthood survive?

Clegg noted that this year marks Planned Parenthood’s 60th anniversary. “We have touched the lives of more than a million people” in northern New England, she said. 

“I fundamentally believe we will get through this because people support us. People want to come to us for care. We are embedded in our states and a part of our community in deep ways. We matter too much for our states and our communities to just accept that we would close our doors.”