Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo continued to lobby for a radical pro-abortion bill last week that would legalize abortions for basically any reason up to birth.
Writing to state Rep. Robert Craven, chair of the state House Committee on the Judiciary, the so-called Catholic governor said she “strongly supports” state House Bill 5127.
“I believe that no one should get in the middle of a decision between a woman and her doctor and that no woman should have to choose between health care and making ends meet,” she wrote.
The Rhode Island Reproductive Health Care Act, co-sponsored by state Sen. Gayle L. Goldin and Rep. Edith H. Ajello, would strip away even minor, common-sense abortion regulations – ones that a strong majority of Americans support. It would eliminate all protections for unborn babies and codify Roe v. Wade into state law in case the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the ruling.
The bill appears to allow restrictions for late-term abortions, but it adds a broad “health” exception for abortions after viability. The exception would allow women to abort unborn babies up to nine months of pregnancy for basically any “health” reason, including “age, economic, social and emotional factors,” a definition given by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Doe v. Bolton.
Raimondo has been pushing the bill for weeks. In her letter to Craven, she claimed that everyone wants to reduce unwanted pregnancies and abortions, but the “health care” legislation that she supports would do the opposite.
I believe that no one should get in the middle of a decision between a woman and her doctor and that no woman should have to chose between health care and making ends meet. #RHCA pic.twitter.com/IAuz8Y71de
— Gina Raimondo (@GovRaimondo) January 29, 2019
According to Rhode Island Right to Life, the bill would expand abortions beyond even what Roe v. Wade allows.
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The pro-life organization says its legal experts warn the legislation would:
Eliminate any constitutional restrictions on late-term abortions
Eliminate any constitutional restrictions on methods of abortion
Undermine the authority of the State and the Department of Health from enacting and adopting constitutional restrictions on the performance of abortions at facilities where abortions are performed
Require the State to pay for all abortions sought by Medicaid-eligible pregnant women and women covered by the “payer of last Resort” program
Additionally, H 5127 would “repeal existing constitutional protection for a viable unborn child from criminal assaults on the child’s mother,” and H 5125 would “substantially ‘water down’ the State’s parental consent statute by allowing consent to be obtained from persons who have no constitutional right to give consent (grandparents and adult siblings),” asserts Rhode Island Right to Life.
In January, Ajello described protections for unborn babies as “insidiously restrictive, harmful and patriarchal reproductive laws.” Her bill would even repeal the state partial-birth abortion ban and fetal homicide law, which provides justice to pregnant mothers whose unborn babies are killed by abusive partners, drunken drivers or others whose illegal actions cause the death of the unborn baby.
The ACLU, which supports Ajello’s bill, has claimed fetal homicide laws are problematic because they treat “a fetus as a person.”
Pro-life advocates are fighting back, exposing the inhumane, gruesome truth about the legislation. Nichole Rowley, a mother of two from Lincoln, has been speaking out in defense of life.
“Governor Raimondo claims to be Catholic and is publicly lobbying for Rhode Island to pass radical abortion legislation,” Rowley told the local news.
“… the basis of human rights is that all innocent human beings have a natural right to life,” Rowley continued. “The logical conclusion is obvious: the unborn are human beings who deserve the right to life and abortion is a human rights violation.”
If the bill passes, America could see abortion rates rise after a steady decline for decades. In January, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a similar pro-abortion bill, legalizing abortion for basically any reason up to birth. The Vermont and New Mexico legislatures are considering very similar legislation this winter.
ACTION: Contact the Rhode Island legislature to oppose this bill. And contact Gov. Gina Raimondo to oppose the bill.
