§ 150. Legally protected health care activity
(a) “Gender-affirming health care services” means all supplies, care, and services of
a medical, behavioral health, mental health, surgical, psychiatric, therapeutic, diagnostic,
preventative, rehabilitative, or supportive nature, including medication, relating
to the treatment of gender dysphoria and gender incongruence. “Gender-affirming health
care services” does not include conversion therapy as defined by 18 V.S.A. § 8351.
(b)(1) “Legally protected health care activity” means:
(A) the exercise and enjoyment, or attempted exercise and enjoyment, by any person of
rights to reproductive health care services or gender-affirming health care services
secured by this State;
(B) any act or omission undertaken to aid or encourage, or attempt to aid or encourage,
any person in the exercise and enjoyment, or attempted exercise and enjoyment, of
rights to reproductive health care services or gender-affirming health care services
secured by this State, provided that the provision of such a health care service by
a person duly licensed under the laws of this State and physically present in this
State shall be legally protected if the service is permitted under the laws of this
State, regardless of the patient’s location; or
(C) the provision, issuance, or use of, or enrollment in, insurance or other health coverage
for reproductive health care services or gender-affirming health care services that
are legal in this State, or any act to aid or encourage, or attempt to aid or encourage,
any person in the provision, issuance, or use of, or enrollment in, insurance or other
health coverage for those services, regardless of the location of the insured or individual
seeking insurance or health coverage, if the insurance or health coverage is permitted
under the laws of this State.
(2) Except as provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection, the protections applicable
to “legally protected health care activity” shall not apply to a lawsuit; judgment;
or civil, criminal, or administrative action that is based on conduct for which an
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.
(3) Notwithstanding subdivision (2) of this subsection, the provision of a health care
service by a person duly licensed under the laws of this State and physically present
in this State shall be legally protected if the service is permitted under the laws
of this State, regardless of the patient’s location or whether the health care provider
is licensed in the state where the patient is located at the time the service is rendered.
(4) The protections applicable to persons who engage in “legally protected health care
activity” shall also apply to a person who has previously undertaken one or more acts
or omissions while in another U.S. jurisdiction to aid or encourage, or attempt to
aid or encourage, any person in the exercise and enjoyment, or attempted exercise
and enjoyment, of rights to reproductive health care services or gender-affirming
health care services that would have been protected by this State if they had been
undertaken in this State, provided that the acts or omissions were permissible under
the laws of the jurisdiction in which the person was located at the time they were
undertaken.
(c)(1) “Reproductive health care services” means all supplies, care, and services of a medical,
behavioral health, mental health, surgical, psychiatric, therapeutic, diagnostic,
preventative, rehabilitative, or supportive nature, including medication, relating
to pregnancy, contraception, assisted reproduction, pregnancy loss management, or
the termination of a pregnancy.
(2) “Reproductive health care services” includes medication that was approved by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for termination of a pregnancy as of January 1,
2023, regardless of the medication’s current FDA approval status:
(A) when such medication is procured, ordered, stored, distributed, prescribed, dispensed,
or administered, or a combination thereof, by a person duly licensed under the laws
of this State, as long as the licensee’s actions conform to the essential standards
of acceptable and prevailing practice for the licensee’s profession; or
(B) when such medication is used by an individual. (Added 2023, No. 14, § 1 and No. 15, § 1, both eff. May 10, 2023; amended 2025, No. 20, § 1, eff. May 13, 2025.)