The ability to choose if, when, and how to give birth is fundamental to women’s economic success, educational achievement, and overall health and well-being. Access to safe and legal abortion is essential for Rhode Island women and for all women.

As the daughter of an obstetrician father and a feminist mother, I grew up in a household where pregnancy, labor and delivery, and women’s right to healthcare were routine dinner table conversation. In 2014, I joined the RI Coalition for Reproductive Justice on behalf of the National Council of Jewish Women. It was there I learned our State law mandated providers to notify the husband prior to pregnancy termination and unlike 17 other states, including CT, MA, and VT, Rhode Island prohibits Medicaid coverage of medically necessary abortion services.

In 2019, Governor Raimondo signed the Reproductive Privacy Act (RPA) into law, a monumental moment for the protection of abortion rights in the state. That victory was sweet, yet short-lived as the U.S. Supreme Court officially reversed Roe v. Wade in June of 2022, declaring that the constitutional right to abortion, upheld for nearly a half century, no longer exists.

Rhode Island needs to protect a women’s right to make healthcare decisions about her own body and pass the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act (EACA).

EACA would add coverage of abortion to our state Medicaid program, which covers over 315,000 Rhode Island residents, and eliminate harmful laws that prevent people enrolled in Medicaid and more than 17,000 state employees (and their dependents) from using their insurance to cover abortion.