It would be disappointing if the Rhode Island General Assembly could not put the issue of abortion behind it in this year’s session, reassuring women that their rights will be protected.
The issue — which touches on such profound questions as freedom, women’s autonomy, religious belief and what constitutes life — arouses fierce emotions. It also tends to cloud consideration of other important matters facing Rhode Island.
Unfortunately, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-to-4 last week against the abortion-rights bill that passed the House earlier this year.
Advocates are hoping to find some other parliamentary means to get the issue before the full chamber, which might be more receptive to an abortion-rights bill than the committee. On the other hand, the issue could be dead for this session.
The House did a good job in March debating this contentious matter peacefully and, for the most part, respectfully. The bill it produced by a 44-to-30 margin seemed to reflect the general attitude of most Rhode Islanders toward abortion.
Most want it to be legal early in a pregnancy. They have much greater concern about the abortion of an unborn child after it might be viable outside the womb.
Fortunately, whatever happens to the legislation in this session, it would not change much in Rhode Island for the foreseeable future. There is no need to panic yet.
That is because abortion remains legal nationwide under the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.
To be sure, Alabama last week passed a new law restricting abortion in almost all circumstances, with the exception of serious risk to the woman’s health. Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and Georgia have also approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which usually occurs in about the sixth week of pregnancy.
These laws seem likely to be struck down, given Roe v. Wade. Some conservatives hope the matter will get all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, prompting a thorough reassessment of Roe v. Wade. It is not at all clear, however, that the court would overturn the 1973 ruling. Even though its conservative members now outnumber liberals, 5-to-4, such establishment types as Chief Justice John Roberts have shown little interest in ripping open that scab.
Moreover, most Americans seem to agree basically with Roe
v. Wade, whatever its virtues or demerits as a ruling. (Many conservatives contend the court usurped the rights of the people to decide the question through their state legislatures.) A Pew Research Center survey in September 2018 found 58 percent of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while only 37 percent say it should be illegal in all or most cases.
All the same, given the concerns of many supporters of abortion rights about what might happen under a conservative Supreme Court, we hope that the Senate will find a way to pass the House version of the bill or something very similar.
As we have argued, by codifying Roe v. Wade, the General Assembly would make clear that women rights will be protected in Rhode Island in the event the ruling is someday overturned.