Vermont Statutes Title 12 Sec. 7302
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 12 Sec. 7302
- Abusive litigation: means litigation or other legal action to deter, prevent, sanction, or punish any person engaging in legally protected health care activity by:
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
- Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
- Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
- Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
§ 7302. Tortious interference with legally protected health care activity
(a) Access to reproductive health care services and gender-affirming health care services is a legal right in this State. Interference with legally protected health care activity, whether or not under the color of law, is against the public policy of this State.
(b) Any public act or record of a foreign jurisdiction that prohibits, criminalizes, sanctions, or authorizes a person to bring a civil action against or otherwise interferes with a person, provider, payer, or other entity in this State that seeks, receives, causes, aids in access to, aids or abets, or provides, or attempts or intends to seek, receive, cause, aid in access to, aid or abet, or provide, legally protected health care services shall be an interference with the exercise and enjoyment of the rights secured by this State and shall be a violation of the public policy of this State.
(c) If a person, whether or not acting under color of law, engages or attempts to engage in abusive litigation that infringes on or interferes with, or attempts to infringe on or interfere with, legally protected health care activity, any aggrieved person, provider, payer, or other entity, including any defendant in such abusive litigation, may initiate a civil action for injunctive, monetary, or other appropriate relief within six years after the cause of action accrues.
(d) If the court finds for the petitioner in an action authorized by this section, recovery may include damages for the amount of any judgment issued in connection with any abusive litigation, and any and all other expenses, costs, or reasonable attorney’s fees incurred in connection with the abusive litigation and with the tortious interference action.
(e) A court may exercise jurisdiction over a person in an action authorized by this section if:
(1) personal jurisdiction is found;
(2) the person has commenced any action in any court in this State and, during the pendency of that action or any appeal therefrom, a summons and complaint is served on the person or the attorney appearing on the person’s behalf in that action or as otherwise permitted by law; or
(3) the exercise of jurisdiction is permitted under the Constitution of the United States.
(f) Abusive litigation does not include a lawsuit or judgment entered in another state that is based on conduct for which a cause of action would exist under the laws of this State if the course of conduct that forms the basis for liability had occurred entirely in this State, including any contract, tort, common law, or statutory claims.
(g) An attorney shall not be liable under this section, if acting on behalf of another and within the scope of the attorney’s license. A lawyer acting pro se, or a public prosecutor having the personal discretion to decide whether to bring abusive litigation, shall not be immune under this subsection. (Added 2023, No. 14, § 3, eff. May 10, 2023.)