The U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v Wade sparked widespread condemnation in Rhode Island.
The ruling came more than a month after the stunning leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito indicating the court was prepared to take this momentous step. It puts the court at odds with a majority of Americans who favored preserving Roe, according to opinion polls.
Alito, in the final opinion issued Friday, wrote that Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision that reaffirmed the right to abortion, were wrong the days they were decided and must be overturned.
“We therefore hold that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Roe and Casey must be overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote, in an opinion that was very similar to the leaked draft.
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed said the ruling will make access to healthcare contingent on where women live and their economic status.
“Let’s be clear: a radical faction of Supreme Court justices are taking away a right from every woman in America,” Reed said in a statement. “This is an unprecedented decision that flies in the face of the claims of recent Supreme court nominees that they would defer to long-standing precedent. This is six justices taking away a Constitutional right from millions of women and putting in its place a patchwork system that makes women second-class citizens.The ruling sends a disturbing signal that a radical Court will now allow states to selectively restrict or infringe on other rights.”
Here’s more of the local reaction to the Supreme Court’s ruling.
U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse: “Today’s decision shreds a half-century-old legal precedent in order to deny women the right to decide if and when to have children. That is among the most private, personal, and significant decisions in life, and the Court in Roe v. Wade rightly held the Constitution’s guarantee of individual liberty protects such private decisions against government interference. Now, Roe’s privacy protection is gone and state legislatures can meddle freely in these intimate and difficult decisions. The consequences for millions of women are immediate, as an array of antiquated anti-abortion laws snap back into place.”
U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin: “I fear that this decision will only further divide an already divided country.”
Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin was among the few public officials in Rhode Island expressing support for the Supreme Court ruling.
“The Supreme Court decision means that individual states will now have the responsibility of addressing abortion in their own jurisdictions,” Tobin said. “Sadly, Rhode Island has adopted one of the most liberal abortion laws in the nation, a disgraceful law that permits abortion even until the moment of birth. Some consider this to be ‘settled law,’ but a law that permits the termination of children, including viable infants, should not be settled at all. I plead with political leaders in Rhode Island to do the right thing – to revisit our abortion laws in a way that safeguards the sanctity of human life and eliminates the enormous harm caused by abortion – to unborn infants, to vulnerable women, to the minority community, and to the dignity and quality of life in our state.”
In 2018, when he was lieutenant governor, Gov. Dan McKee expressed doubt that Roe would be overturned. McKee has since spoken in support of protecting abortion rights in Rhode Island.
“Here in Rhode Island, we will always support a woman’s right to choose,” McKee said. “Despite today’s ruling, Rhode Islanders still have the right to access abortion health care services in our state thanks to the General Assembly codifying these protections into law – but all people should have the ability to make their own reproductive health care decisions, no matter where they live.
“Make no mistake about it,” the governor added, “today’s Supreme Court decision will not stop abortions. It will only make them less safe. It’s time for Congress to act and support a woman’s right to choose, just like Rhode Island has done.”
A grassroots campaign led the state to adopt a law protection abortion rights in 2019. But the General Assembly did not act in the just-ended session that ended Thursday on legislation to expand abortion coverage to included Medicaid and the state employee health plan.
The Rhode Island Coalition for Reproductive Freedom, which led the fight for the 2019 law, held a press conference in downtown Providence today to protest the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe vs. Wade. The group called attention to a new bill stuck in Rhode Island’s legislature that could greatly expand affordable access to abortions.
“Today, right now, our state laws ban one in three residents from using their health insurance coverage to cover abortion care,” said Gretchen Raffa, a vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood’s network in southern New England.
Raffa said state lawmakers had the power to change that this year by lifting a local ban preventing Rhode Islanders from using public health insurance to pay for abortions. Without insurance, first trimester abortions typically cost around $600.
But just a few hours before the Supreme Court announced its decision, Rhode Island’s legislature shut down for the season without passing the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act.
McKee’s Democratic rivals in the race for governor also commented:
Matt Brown: “There’s no path back to abortion rights other than deep, fearless, sustained organizing. In Rhode Island that means we need to pass the EACA and we need to defeat the anti-choice politicians in our state – including the 24 conservative Democrats still in our legislature who voted against codifying Roe v. Wade. I don’t care if you have friends in common with some of them or if you once had a nice conversation with them, this is not a social club – this is about the fight for basic human rights and survival.”
Helena Buonanno Foulkes: “With this ruling, millions of American women are now stripped of their constitutional right to make decisions about their own bodies. It’s an outrage. We need a governor who will lead to protect choice in Rhode Island. As governor, I will include the Equality in Abortion Care Act in my very first budget and will form a regional alliance with other New England governors to ensure the strongest protections in America.”
Nellie Gorbea: “I am appalled at the Supreme Court’s final ruling. Access to abortion is a fundamental right and I’m proud that we’ve worked together to protect that right in Rhode Island, including codifying Roe into state law. As Governor I will do everything in my power to ensure that Rhode Islanders will continue to have equitable access to safe and legal abortions. Passing the Rhode Island Equity in Abortion Coverage ACT will be a priority for me as Governor but I would welcome a special session of the General Assembly to pass this law prior to January 2023.”
Luis Daniel Munoz: “Today is a signal to all. It’s time to raise the volume! To stand up…and to ready for the fights ahead. We should not temper the calls and actions made for progress. Instead, we must amplify these calls and actions, in the face of those who would see us return to the dark ages.”
The RI ACLU called the decision an unprecedented attack on women’s rights and reproductive freedom.
“Thanks to the General Assembly’s passage of the Reproductive Privacy Act three years ago, abortion remains safe and legal in Rhode Island,” the group said. “But it is essential that our leaders go further to ensure abortion is not only legal, but also accessible and affordable for everyone who needs it. It is therefore absolutely critical that legislators pass the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act at the earliest possible opportunity. Some of our most fundamental rights are now in jeopardy as a result of this decision, and the ACLU of Rhode Island pledges to work with others in fighting back against this extraordinary judicial attack on our basic freedoms.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@ripr.org
