Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship
Update (4/23/26): Gov. Phil Scott signed S.210 on April 22
A Vermont mother, who asked to remain anonymous due to safety concerns, spoke to the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare in January about the death of her adult daughter in Nov. 2024.
The woman’s daughter had just separated from her abusive partner, and she wanted a copy of the autopsy report to confirm the cause of death, due to both its untimeliness and the relationship’s history of domestic issues.
But because her daughter’s ex-partner took custody of their children, he became the woman’s next-of-kin, giving him sole access to her autopsy report. The mother spent months begging doctors and legal officials to obtain it.
“The medical examiner’s office felt our pain and understood the lack of fairness in the situation. But their hands were tied, bound by the current law,” she said.
In the end, a social worker convinced the ex to share the report. The woman said she is sure that this law has affected more people than just her family.
“To give her records to someone who did not treat her well, who was not signed on her HIPAA forms, whom she had asked to leave the relationship, is, to me, a real invasion of her privacy after death,” she said. “This bill could prevent this immense trauma for others by giving people in the immediate family the possibility of access to this important information without having to beg for them.”
The bill in question is S.210, which would allow people to petition the Probate Division of the Superior Court to receive access to autopsy reports if they demonstrate good cause. The petition would have to be filed within five days of the death, and both the medical examiner’s and state’s attorney’s offices would have 14 days to weigh in. A judge would ultimately make the ruling.
The bill has passed both chambers and was delivered to Gov. Phil Scott on April 16.
Sen. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, wrote the bill after meeting with the mother at their local domestic and sexual violence prevention organization. The mother shared her story with Hardy and voiced her concerns with the current law.
“(The current law establishes) a list of an order of who gets to receive an autopsy report. If the deceased is married, their spouse would get the report. If they’re a child, their parent would get the report. And then there’s a hierarchy of who would get the report,” Hardy said.
If S.210 passes, Hardy said it would allow someone to petition the court to get a copy of the autopsy report even if they are not next in line in this hierarchy. She worked with the Vermont Judiciary to discuss the court process described in the bill.
Bill co-sponsor Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick, D-Chittenden-Central, said the situation with the mother and daughter should be prevented from happening again.
“For a lot of women, especially women that suffer from physical abuse, what ends up coming out of the coroner’s report and an autopsy report is really important and critical to family members,” Gulick said.
Gulick acknowledged concerns about the possibility of autopsy reports being shared with someone that some family members believe shouldn’t have them. But she thinks the procedure laid out in the bill is sound.
“It was a fine needle to thread to make sure that these reports get into the hands of the right people,” she said.
If Scott passes S.210, it would take effect on July 1.