§ 1033. Interference with access to health care facility

(a) The General Assembly finds that:

(1) all persons must be able to access health care facilities for the purpose of obtaining or providing legally protected health care activity;

(2) the exercise of a person‘s right to protest or counsel against certain medical procedures must be balanced against another person’s right to obtain or provide legally protected health care activity in an unobstructed manner;

(3) preventing the willful obstruction of a person’s access to legally protected health care activity at a health care facility is a matter of public concern; and

(4) it is necessary and appropriate to prohibit individuals from knowingly obstructing another person’s entry to or exit from a health care facility that provides legally protected health care activity.

(b) As used in this section:

(1) “Health care facility” means a hospital, ambulatory surgical center, health center, clinic, health care provider’s office, or other facility that provides reproductive health care services or gender-affirming health care services and includes the building or structure in which the facility is located.

(2) “Health care provider” has the same meaning as provided in 18 V.S.A. § 9402.

(3) “Legally protected health care activity” has the same meaning as provided in 1 V.S.A. § 150.

(4) “Physical obstruction” means rendering impassable ingress to or egress from a facility that provides legally protected health care activity or rendering passage to or from such a facility unreasonably difficult or hazardous.

(c) No person shall:

(1) by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction knowingly injure, intimidate, or interfere with, or attempt to injure, intimidate, or interfere with, another person because such other person was or is obtaining or providing legally protected health care activity; or

(2) knowingly damage the property of a health care facility, or attempt to do so, because such facility provides legally protected health care activity.

(d) A person who violates this section shall be assessed a civil penalty of not more than $300.00.

(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit any constitutionally protected activity. (Added 2023, No. 14, § 4, eff. May 10, 2023.)