Letter: Act now to protect a woman’s right to choose

Posted 7/12/18

As we face the impending likelihood of a majority anti-choice Supreme Court, it is important that Rhode Islanders understand what reproductive rights we’d have in the absence of Roe V. Wade. …

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Letter: Act now to protect a woman’s right to choose

Posted

As we face the impending likelihood of a majority anti-choice Supreme Court, it is important that Rhode Islanders understand what reproductive rights we’d have in the absence of Roe V. Wade. Our current restrictive state laws are unenforceable because they violate Roe. The moment Roe is overturned, these laws become our reality.

Current Rhode Island law says: “human life commences at the instance of conception.” Abortion providers shall be imprisoned, and may be charged with murder. If a married woman seeks an abortion, the provider shall notify her husband before performing the abortion. Basic health insurance plans cannot cover abortion. “Partial birth abortions” and abortion of a “quick-child” are banned; these are both non-medical terms coined by anti-choice groups designed to chip away access.

Activists and representatives have been fighting for The Reproductive Health Care Act (RHCA), which replaces our current laws with language that government shall not “restrict an individual person from preventing, commencing, continuing or terminating that individual’s pregnancy before fetal viability.” It protects contraception and uses evidence-based language. (Google “RI H7340.”)

Despite being presented for years, the RHCA has never been brought to a vote. Senate President Dominick Ruggerio and House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello (both fully endorsed by “Right to Life”) refuse to. Speaker Mattiello suggests the overturn of Roe is unlikely and therefore this legislation is unnecessary. His leadership on this, and other issues, has been so incompatible with his constituents’ views, that many Democrats are supporting his Republican challenger in 2018.

Many Rhode Islanders assume that an 85 percent Democrat legislature means that abortion access is safe. We shouldn’t. Although recentPew polls show that 63 percent of Rhode Islanders believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, “Right to Life” endorses 52 percent of our Senate and 40 percent of our House.

The legislative session has ended, but It is fully within the power of the Senate president and House speaker to reconvene during a recess to pass the RHCA.

What can you do?

Call Speaker Mattiello (401) 222-2466 and President Ruggerio (401) 222-6655 and ask them to support the RHCA.

If you are reading this paper, your representatives are likely Dennis Canario (401) 683-4926, and Lou DiPalma (401) 847-8540. Please ask them to support the RHCA.

Get involved in the midterm elections. Find out who’s running, ask them their views. Donate, volunteer, vote! Communicate with your representatives, speak to your friends in other towns and help them find their reps. Visit sos.ri.gov to make sure your voter registration is accurate, to find your reps, and to see all the candidates running this year.

We need to focus both locally and nationally. Read SisterSong’s vision of reproductive justice, which centers people of color, and focuses on a holistic approach. Abortion access is not the whole picture of reproductive justice, but it’s an important piece. Support SisterSong, and local organizations like The Women Project, and Planned Parenthood of Southern NE. Support resources for pregnant people, parents, children, and families. 

Isabel Mattia

Little Compton

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