Bill Would Cover Abortions For State Workers, Medicaid Recipients

PROVIDENCE, RI — Two Rhode Island lawmakers are calling for the state to lift the ban on healthcare coverage for abortions under the state's health plans and to cover the procedure under Medicaid. The announcements came on the 47th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, which gave women across the country the right to access abortions.

The legislation was introduced by Sen. Bridget Valverde and Rep. Liana Cassar. There are currently 16 other states which include abortion services under Medicaid, including Massachusetts and Connecticut.

"Abortion is basic health care and should be covered by your health insurance no matter how much money you make or where you work," Valverde said. "Right now, we have an unfair, discriminatory system in place here in Rhode Island. State employees and Medicaid patients deserve the same coverage as everyone else, but the law prohibits their insurance from providing it."

If passed into law, the bill would strike the section of the current law that forbids state employee or Medicaid recipients from receiving coverage for an abortion, except in the case of rape, incest or if the life of the mother is at risk. In compliance with federal law, the bill would stipulate that no federal funds be used to cover the services, unless doing so would be allowed under the law.

"These policies result in people and their families being denied access to health care, and in this case, those impacted are disproportionately poorer Rhode Islanders," Valverde continued. "We believe that every person has the right to make their own reproductive health decisions, but these Rhode Islanders cannot do that when their insurance is expressly prohibited from covering their choice."

The bill comes in the wake of the highly contested Reproductive Privacy Act, passed during last year's session, which codified the rights guaranteed by Roe v. Wade into Rhode Island law. The law garnered national attention from both groups on both sides of the issue.

Rep. Cassar called the bill's passage "a great success."

The Reproductive Privacy Act eliminated many of the unconstitutional laws enacted in Rhode Island after Roe v. Wade to restrict reproductive rights," she said. "The ban on Medicaid programs and state employees’ insurance policies covering abortion is just one more vestige of the time when legislatures used every tool they had to deny people their right to choose. All Rhode Islanders deserve bodily autonomy, including the poor and those who are employed by the state. This ban is a backdoor means of denying reproductive rights, and it should be eliminated."

The legislation comes as part of an ongoing campaign coordinated by the Womxn Project. It is supported by the Rhode Island Coalition for Reproductive Freedom, Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island, the ACLU of Rhode Island, the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island, the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Democratic Women’s Caucus, COYOTE RI, the National Council for Jewish Women, the National Association of Social Workers, RI Chapter, the United State of Women (Rhode Island), CaneIwalk, Rhode Island National Organization of Women (NOW), the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, The Collective and Swing Left Rhode Island.

"We worked so hard as a movement and in coalition to make sure that in Rhode Island our right to abortion is protected, no matter what happens at the federal level," said Jordan Hevenor, the co-director of the Womx Project. "As we commemorate Roe and see the endless attacks on this right, we believe we have to draw the line and fight back. It is time to get rid of harmful policies that take away coverage for abortion. When people can’t afford care because they are denied benefits, that takes away their right to make their own decision. We won’t stand by and let this happen. We will continue to organize and make change together."