The Morning After
It seems fitting that the Providence Journal editorialized in support of making Plan B, the emergency contraceptive drug, over the counter the very morning after Rhode Island’s annual abortion restriction hearing in the State House. Over sixty supporters came out in waves of pink to support the work of the RI Coalition for Reproductive Justice and [...]
Keep abortion restrictions out of Rhode Island
The same radical anti-abortion agenda coming out of state legislatures from Arkansas to North Dakota is headed straight for Rhode Island. Today 5 dangerous abortion restriction bills will be heard at the State House that would work to insert politicians between a woman and her doctor – and would bring the same extreme legislation that [...]
David Cicilline Signs Grayson-Takano Letter
Thank you Congressman Cicilline for standing up against cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security! When Barack Obama proposed cuts to Social Security in his current budget, progressives were horrified. Fortunately, in the First District of Rhode Island, we have a congressman who opposes this dangerous unraveling of the New Deal. David Cicilline has signed [...]
Rowley on Madison
A common rhetorical technique within the Tea Party right is to wrap their personal opinions in those of the Founders, lending an air of gravitas and implying that those revolutionaries would, in modern days, hold opinions identical to their own. There’s certainly much there to choose from. The Founders were nearly entirely of a class [...]
Hodges Addresses Gender Inequality In Insurance
It’s hard to imagine that in the year 2013 women still have to deal with inequality in the workplace. Their wages are typically lower for the same level of education and expertise than their male counterparts, but this inequality does not stop at the pay check. Women also pay much higher premiums for their health [...]
Lizz Winstead, Fake News Inventor, In RI Thursday
Remember way back in the mid-1990′s when some people could actually say Fox News was fair and balanced with a straight face? Then progressive comedian Lizz Winstead invented fake news for Comedy Central and all of a sudden the joke was on the conservatives. The Daily Show co-creator will be in town on Thursday night [...]
Protecting Roe: What Every Rhode Islander Can Do
It’s been 40 years since the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that the constitutionally protected right to privacy includes every woman’s right to make her own personal medical decisions, without the interference of politicians – including the right to end a pregnancy. Leading up to today there has been a lot of talk about the next [...]
Parents: Proper Marijuana Reform Protects Families
“You’ll think differently once you have a child of your own.” This was the comment I most often heard whenever I used to have conversations with other parents about drug policy reform. Last year, my wife and I were blessed with a beautiful baby boy. In the first year of his life, he has grown [...]
Romney Lauds RI, But Would Cut State Medicaid
You probably listened with great interest in the debate Monday night when Mitt Romney complimented Rhode Island for running its innovative Medicaid program better than does the federal government. This may be true, and Rhode Island certainly deserves credit for its well-run, innovative Medicaid system. But as it turns out the Romney/Ryan plan for Medicaid [...]
Bishop Tobin Confuses Anti-Choice for Pro-Life
Providence Diocese Bishop Thomas Tobin has a tendency to very publicly take Catholic politicians to task for their stand on reproductive rights. Tobin’s very public fight with Congressman Patrick Kennedy was seen by many to be a bold assertion of clerical power to control the votes of Catholic legislators on issues of importance to Catholic [...]
Planned Parenthood Endorses Candidates
Planned Parenthood Votes! RI PAC is pleased to announce its 2012 state legislative PAC endorsements. PPV!RI PAC supports its candidates by educating voters through phone calls and social media to ensure Rhode Islanders know what is at stake for women and women’s health ahead of the September 11th primary and the November 6th general election. [...]
On Choice, Rhode Island Not Far from Mississippi
If abortion is legal in a state, but there’s nowhere to have an abortion performed, is it really an option? This hypothetical is quickly becoming a reality for those living in Mississippi. While the situation in Rhode Island isn’t quite that dire, some female leaders here say they are saddened and frightened for the lives [...]
State Celebrates Court’s Health Care Decision
Lt. Gov Elizabeth Roberts, who has taken the lead in implementing health care reform in Rhode Island, Christine Ferguson, who runs the new health care exchange in Rhode Island and Steve Constantino, the secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services explain how the Supreme Court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act will [...]
RI Health Care Project Applauds the ACA Decision
The Rhode Island Health Coverage Project celebrates today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Today’s decision means that millions of Americans across the country and tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders will have access to affordable, high quality health coverage. “We are fortunate to live in a [...]
The John Roberts Moment
Surprisingly nearly everyone – especially CNN – the Supreme Court upheld the most controversial aspect of President Obama’s historic health care reforms: the individual mandate. It’s incredibly good news for Obama, Democrats, progressives, Rhode Island (which is already well into the process of implementing it) all the uninsured and under-insured Americans (like me!), the country [...]
Fortnight Against Freedom
In the United States, Roman Catholic bishops have called for an alliterative “Fortnight for Freedom” to run from June 21, the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas Moore, to July 4. The bishops are calling on the faithful to use these two weeks for prayer, study and action, specifically regarding [...]
Mandatory Ultrasound Bill Disses Women, Doctors
The Providence Journal published an identical Right to Life opinion piece that ran April 30th supporting Rep. Karen MacBeth’s mandatory ultrasound bill. And so the Providence Journal gave RTL a freebie to further their radical right wing agenda. Politicians like Rep. Karen MacBeth (D-Cumberland) who sponsored the mandatory ultrasound bill should not interfere in women’s [...]
Anti-Choice Zealots Hold Medical Bill Hostage
Right now there is no statute regarding the licensing of genetic counselors in Rhode Island, opening the door for those without appropriate training and codes of ethics to exploit and potentially harm patients. Fifteen states have licensure laws, and seventeen more have bills in consideration or preparing to be introduced. On Wednesday, a Senate subcommittee [...]
April is National STD Awareness Month
With spring comes warmth and rain and also it’s national STD awareness month. It’s a little known observance by the CDC that pushes people to really talk in the open about sexually transmitted diseases and gives a chance for people to get tested in Rhode Island and across the country. According to the Center for [...]
Soda Tax Talking Point Ignores Gas Prices, Logic
The idea that people will cross state lines to avoid paying taxes is one of the most abused axioms in Rhode Island politics, but this notion is stretched far beyond the ridiculous when those opposed to a soda tax invoke it. The proposed soda tax, heard yesterday by the House Finance Committee, would add a [...]
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