Primary Victories Critical to Expanding Abortion Access in Rhode Island

PPV!RI PAC-endorsed candidates have pledged to sponsor or support the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act in 2023

(Providence, RI) ––Tuesday’s Rhode Island state primary election resulted in victories for several candidates endorsed by the Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island Political Action Committee (PPV!RI PAC). These wins are an important step towards sending more reproductive rights champions to the General Assembly to pass the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act (EACA) and remove barriers to abortion access in the Ocean State.

The Equality in Abortion Coverage Act (EACA) will provide coverage for abortion in Rhode Island’s Medicaid program and remove bans on abortion coverage for state employees. The EACA is overwhelmingly popular — according to the Providence Journal, recent polling shows that two-thirds of Rhode Island voters support policies to expand access to abortion care. Rhode Islanders clearly believe all people deserve privacy in their personal medical decisions, including abortion, as well as access to resources to make those decisions. Every candidate who won their primary this week is on notice that Rhode Island voters are looking to their elected officials to pass the EACA next year. This critical legislation will help ensure cost is not a barrier to abortion care, giving more Rhode Islanders the power to determine their own lives and futures.

“Your right to control your own body is on the ballot this November,” said Gretchen Raffa, Vice President of Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island (PPV!RI) and Treasurer of the PPV!RI PAC. “We are going to need every one of the reproductive rights champions endorsed by PPV!RI PAC at the State House next year to pass the EACA and expand abortion access in our state. There is still so much work to do. We must stay focused on getting these candidates elected in November to continue the progress we’ve made in Rhode Island. Planned Parenthood patients are counting on us.”

Since 2016, PPV!RI PAC-endorsed elected officials have played a crucial role in advancing policies that protect and advance reproductive freedom, including the historic 2019 passage of the Reproductive Privacy Act (RPA), which codified the right to abortion into Rhode Island state law. Now more than ever, we need leaders in every level of government who trust people to make their own decisions about their bodies, lives, and futures.

See the full list of PPV!RI-PAC endorsed candidates for the 2022 general election.

To learn more about Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island and the Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island PAC, visit ppvotes.org.

###

 Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island PAC is the Rhode Island state political action committee affiliated with Planned Parenthood Votes! RI (PPV!RI). PPV!RI is the advocacy and social welfare arm of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England (PPSNE).