Abortion is back as a contentious topic at Statehouses from Boston to Sacramento. The Public’s Radio political analyst Scott MacKay says this may be the year Rhode Island lawmakers protect abortion rights. (Advance copy of commentary scheduled to air Monday.)
It’s been 46 years since the U.S. Supreme Court enshrined abortion rights in American law with the Roe vs. Wade decision. Many thought that landmark case would settle things. If you were one of those, well you were wrong.
The abortion joust has waxed and waned over the years, but it never went away. It’s both a political and cultural, an issue that cuts to core religious beliefs and the women’s rights movement. Now in the era of Donald Trump, it’s back.
Rhode Island has long been the nation’s most Roman Catholic state, followed by neighboring Massachusetts. That explains, in part, why the long-debated issue has failed to yield any substantive legislation at the state level. The rhetoric around abortion always ran hot, but at the Statehouse a truce of sorts insulated lawmakers from having to take a position that was sure to frost some constituents.
Rhode Island had a state Constitutional Convention in the 1980s. The result was a statewide referendum with a divisive campaign that ended with voters solidly rejecting an abortion ban. What followed was an unwritten truce at the Statehouse between opponents and supporters of abortion rights.
Leaders at the overwhelmingly Democratic capitol have considered measures that both expanded and curtailed abortion rights. But House and Senate poohbahs kept lawmakers from casting votes by bottling up abortion measures.
Times have changed. This year, thirty-nine of the seventy-five House members have signed on to a measure that would protect abortion rights in the state even if the federal high court overturns or waters down abortion rights. The bill would codify the Roe. vs. Wade standard in state law.
Why now? Well, it’s likely the current Supreme Court –with two new conservative justices appointed by President Trump—will meddle with Roe vs. Wade. Wendy Schiller, chairwoman of the Brown University political department, says the probable scenario is a decision that sends the abortion issue back to the states.
The New York legislature recently approved codifying Roe vs. Wade into state law. Similar legislation has passed in Connecticut, California, Delaware, Oregon, Maine, Maryland and Hawaii. In Massachusetts, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker is supporting codifying abortion rights.
On the other side, abortion opponents have been active, pressing anti-abortion measures in the red states of the American south and Midwest. Iowa has passed a law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. Arkansas seeks to bar the use of abortion inducing drugs.
Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Roman Catholic Diocese is known for his outspoken views on such cultural issues as gay marriage and abortion. Last week, he broke a months-long social media hiatus by returning to Twitter to blast Catholic politicians who support abortion rights.
Tobin said the campaign to codify Roe vs. Wade is “an excuse, a smoke screen to expand abortion in Rhode Island” that “destroys innocent lives.” He also threatened to bar Catholics –including Gov. Gina Raimondo, a supporter of the Roe vs. Wade measure—from receiving communion. Yet, despite the state’s many Catholics, Tobin’s muscle in the political arena is getting flabby. Remember the battle over gay marriage. Tobin railed against it, saying Rhode Island would become a “moral sewer” if it was approved. Gay marriage was passed in 2013 and –except perhaps for Rhode Islanders getting more wedding invitations—little seems to have changed.
House Speaker Nick Mattiello, D-Cranston and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, D-North Providence, both oppose abortion. But they may not be able to stop the momentum being gained by abortion rights supporters in a state where a 2018 poll showed 71 percent support Roe. Vs. Wade.
One way out for Mattiello and Ruggerio would be for each of them to allow Roe vs. Wade measures to get floor votes. Then they could each vote against it. Never forget a crucial element in Statehouse leadership — knowing how to count.
Scott MacKay’s commentary can be heard every Monday morning at 6:45 and 8:45 and at 5:44 in the afternoon. You can also follow his political analysis at our web site at ThePublic’sRadio.org
