Senate Judiciary Committee Delays Abortion Rights Bill Decision

In an unexpected move, the Senate Judiciary Committee did not vote on the House abortion rights bill Tuesday, instead sending it to an alternate committee for consideration. Committee Chairwoman Erin Lynch Prata.

Several ex-officio members of the Senate joined the committee for the vote Tuesday, which Prata said was unfair to the committee members who worked so hard and so long to get the bill to the point of a vote.

"This is not the norm and I think it does a disservice to the members of this committee," Prata said.

In an uncommon move, Prata invoked Rule 6.14, which allowed her to transfer the bill to the Health and Human Services Committee. It's unknown if the new committee will vote on the bill before the end of the legislative session.

Tuesday's hearing is almost one month to the day after the same committee defeated a similar Senate bill, called the Reproductive Healthcare Act. Democratic Senator Steven Archambault cast the deciding vote, saying that although he supports Roe v. Wade and women's reproductive rights, he felt the bill went too far.

The House of Representatives approved the bill in a vote of 44 to 30 on March 7. Three amendments were introduced during the more than five hours of debate on the bill. All were struck down and the bill was approved as it was written. The bill's sponsor, Providence Representative Anastasia Williams, said the vote sent a "clear message" that the state of Rhode Island is focused on providing reproductive healthcare to its citizens.

READ MORE:

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• Rhode Island Abortion Protection Bill Rejected
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• House Judiciary Committee Passes Abortion Bill 9-7
• House To Vote On Abortion Bill Thursday