Kennedy retirement sets up R.I. abortion-rights showdown

June 28--PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Despite attempts by the leadership to avoid a "divisive" debate on abortion, the General Assembly may not be able to evade the issue in 2019.

Since the election of President Donald J. Trump, two Providence Democrats, state Rep. Edith Ajello and state Sen. Gayle Goldin, have twice introduced legislation to codify existing abortion rights in state law, in case the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade should be overturned.

Their bills never got to the floor in 2017. They didn't get to the floor this year, either. But Ajello and Goldin both said they "absolutely" plan, if reelected, to reintroduce the Reproductive Health Care Act in 2019.

Earlier this year, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello said a public debate on the "divisive" abortion issue was not necessary, and concerns that Roe could be overturned were not reality-based. But the impending retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, announced Wednesday, has reignited the debate. Abortion rights advocates see a reversal of Roe as increasingly likely.

The news prompted an immediate call from state Rep. Aaron Regunberg, D-Providence, who is running for lieutenant governor, to reconvene the General Assembly for a vote on the Reproductive Health Care Act. Governor Raimondo said Wednesday that passing the legislation is "now more urgent than ever." On Thursday, Raimondo said a special session of the General Assembly is "their call."

On Thursday, Lt. Governor Dan McKee, gubernatorial candidate Matt Brown, the Young Democrats of Rhode Island and others were also calling for the legislature to reconvene and pass the act. This idea was quashed by Mattiello spokesman Larry Berman on Wednesday, and a request for comment from Senate President Dominick Ruggerio has not been answered.

Even before Kennedy's announcement, 2018 had been shaping up as a critical year for the abortion debate. On Monday, Barth E. Bracy, executive director of Rhode Island Right to Life, put out a call on Facebook for more abortion opponents to run for seats in the General Assembly.

"This is the most critical election cycle in decades," his post read. "What happens on September 12 and on November 6 will determine abortion laws in Rhode Island for at least a generation. Will the General Assembly remain pro-life, or will Planned Parenthood and the pro-abortion progressive extremists take over and turn Rhode Island into an abortion haven?"

And on Thursday, Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin made the following comment on Twitter: "The sight of so many many politicians scurrying around to protect abortion is truly sad. Self-professed Catholic pols who do so should be ashamed of themselves. Note well: Support of abortion is contrary to God's will, a betrayal of the faith, and a cause of scandal."

To date, the Catholic Church has been successful in its efforts to block action on the Reproductive Health Care Act, according to Ajello and Goldin, even though polling shows a clear majority of Rhode Islanders support abortion rights.

In 2017, Ajello said, when she first introduced her legislation on abortion rights, 36 colleagues signed on to support the bill.

But within a few weeks, 10 cosponsors asked to have their names taken off the bill, Ajello said. They told her that some of their Catholic constituents had received handouts at Sunday Mass, printed with photos and contact information for bill sponsors, urging them to mobilize against the legislation.

Ajello said eight of the 10 members who wanted their names off the bill said they would vote for it if it went to the floor, but they didn't want to be sponsors anymore.

At this point, "it's important for people who care deeply about this issue ... to ensure that the people who represent them feel the same way," Goldin said Wednesday. When politicians come knocking on doors, voters should ask them where they stand, she added.

Goldin said the leadership of the General Assembly will likely continue on its present course unless there is "a strong unified voice from the people who get elected that this needs to have a vote."

This will require more legislators who are "trusting and standing with women," because if Roe is overturned, "it would put our state into political chaos," Goldin said.

Given the state's history of passing anti-abortion laws, the outlook in Rhode Island would be uncertain in a post-Roe world, according to Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island. Goldin noted that after the Roe decision in 1973, the General Assembly in Rhode Island passed a law to ban abortion. It remains on the books, unenforceable only because of Roe, according to Ajello and Goldin.

If Roe were overturned, abortion law would "go back to the General Assembly," Bracy said. "Automatically, nothing happens." But Bracy added a reversal would lead into "uncharted territory" and "a long legal process."

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