Colchester, Vt. — Democrats in the Vermont Senate are expected to pursue measures in the upcoming session that would ensure a woman’s legal right to an abortion in the state.

Senate lawmakers are expected to consider legislation or amending the state constitution.

Senate Majority Leader Becca Balint told Vermont Public Radio the advent of a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court has rekindled fears over abortion rights in Vermont.

Balint said politicians are unsure what it will take to codify a woman’s right to choose.

Mary Beerworth of the Vermont Right to Life Committee, an anti-abortion group, called the idea “ludicrous and just a waste of time.”

Beerworth said a 1971 Vermont Supreme Court decision legalized abortion in the state and that an abortion-rights debate could lead to talk of abortion restrictions, such as parental notification.

— Wire report