Rhode Island

Rhode Island Senate passes Healthcare Provider Shield Act • Rhode Island Current

Published

8 months ago

May 2, 2024

Rhode Island Senate passes Healthcare Provider Shield Act • Rhode Island Current

The Rhode Island Senate passed a bill Thursday that would defend doctors’ ability to provide reproductive health services and gender-affirming care, which includes therapies, surgeries and other medical services for transgender and nonbinary people.

The 29-7 vote passed largely along partisan lines, with every Republican senator — Jessica de la Cruz, Anthony DeLuca II, Elaine Morgan, Thomas Paolino and Gordon Rogers — voting against the bill. Sens. Roger Picard and Leonidas Raptakis were the only two Democrats to vote against it, and Sen. Victoria Gu was not present.

The Healthcare Provider Shield Act, sponsored by Sen. Dawn Euer and nine fellow Democrats, broadly states that it would stop “any individual” from interfering with access to reproductive or gender-affirming health care services in Rhode Island. More specifically, that means protecting doctors and other health care providers from legal action originating outside state lines — from places where abortion and other reproductive or gender-related health care services have been limited because of the Supreme Court’s 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade.

“Any public act of a foreign jurisdiction that prohibits, criminalizes, sanctions, or authorizes a person to bring a civil action against or otherwise interferes with a person, provider, payer, or other entity in this state that engages in legally protected healthcare activity…shall be an interference with the exercise and enjoyment of the rights secured by this chapter,” the bill reads.

In Euer’s own words on the Senate floor: “What this bill does is it makes sure that Rhode Island gets to regulate our doctors,” she said. “We get to regulate and determine the standards of care here in Rhode Island for our Rhode Island professionals.”

The shield in question casts a wide shadow. Among the bill’s provisions: Public agencies would be forbidden from using any time, money or other resources on interstate investigations. The state’s courts would not enforce any penal measure from another state involving the specified health services. The governor could not extradite a person to their home state on the basis of their receiving an abortion or gender-affirming surgery in Rhode Island.

Shield laws, a 2023 article in NEJM Evidence argues, “are one of the bright spots for abortion access in this new environment where there is no national right to abortion.”

But their true utility has not been tested. “So far, given how new abortion bans and shield laws are, they have not yet needed to be used,” the article led by David S. Cohen, a Drexel University law professor, continues. “However, even if these laws are never used, their mere existence can be an important countervailing force against states that may otherwise consider imposing their abortion bans across state lines.”

But things may have already changed since that article, especially in regards to transgender medical care, as evidenced by points Euer made when she introduced the bill to her senate colleagues — like a legal battle between Texas and Seattle Children’s Hospital over a transgender patient’s medical records.

The newness of shield laws and the slightly-less-new threats to reproductive health and transgender health care has not stopped other states from forging their own defenses. Regionally, shield laws involving transgender care and abortion have been enacted in Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Vermont, New York and New Jersey. New Hampshire and Rhode Island lack shields in both categories.

Sen. Pam Lauria, a primary care nurse practitioner, rose in support of Euer’s legislation: “It might seem a little strange that I would complain about politics, but politics does not belong in my exam room, or any health care provider’s exam room.”

Denouncing science denialism, Lauria posed the bill as an economic good. “You’ve heard me talk a lot about the need for health care workforce bills,” she said. “Well, this is a health care workforce bill, because if we want to keep our providers here in Rhode Island or providers to come to Rhode Island. We have to protect the job that they’re trained to do.”

A 2023 article in Columbia Law Review makes clear the unclarity in interstate litigation: “The Constitution’s general prohibition of state restrictions on interstate travel, burdens on interstate commerce, or application of a state’s law outside its borders should make it difficult for antiabortion states to enforce these laws,” the article reads. “Yet, these constitutional defenses are underdeveloped and subject to debate, leaving courts as the ultimate arbiters of these interstate battles.”

Euer’s bill first appeared for public discussion at a March 7 meeting of the Senate Committee on Judiciary. Testimonies that night ranged from supportive to skeptical, with doctors and other health providers showing up in support.

But the bill only headed for the Senate floor last week on Thursday, April 25, when the Senate Committee on Judiciary passed an amended version that lead sponsor (and the committee’s chair) Euer said made no substantial changes, other than moving the bill’s public policy portion from general law into public law. Sen. Anthony DeLuca, a Warwick Republican, was the sole committee member who voted against the bill’s passage out of Judiciary.

“I rise today in support of this bill, and in an unintended coincidence, today marks 11 years since the governor signed marriage equality into law.” Euer said Thursday. “And so this bill is incredibly important. The timeliness of us having this on the floor today is not lost on me, because I got my start in the real world of politics in Rhode Island on that marriage equality campaign.”

The companion House bill — H7577, led by Democratic Rep. John Edwards of Tiverton and nine other Democrats — has stagnated since a March 5 meeting of the House Committee on Judiciary.

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Rhode Island

Meet the former R.I. lawmaker taking on Deloitte after the RIBridges cybersecurity attack – The Boston Globe

Published

8 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

Meet the former R.I. lawmaker taking on Deloitte after the RIBridges cybersecurity attack – The Boston Globe

Peter Wasylyk has built a nice career out of filing class-action lawsuits.

The former state representative from Providence has been the lead attorney on some of the most high-profile class-action suits in the state, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, where he helped clients win a $17.5 million settlement in 2005. He also helped thousands of drivers in Providence secure small refunds on their speed camera tickets in 2018.

Now Wasylyk, who held office from 1985 until he lost a Democratic primary to current Representative Ray Hull in 2010, is at the center of another high-profile class-action lawsuit. He’s working with consumers to sue Deloitte Consulting following the cyberattack on the state’s public benefits system that Governor Dan McKee disclosed last week.

McKee has said hundreds of thousands of Rhode Islanders could have had their personal data exposed.

”A class-action attorney is almost enforcing regulations because it helps the consumer be able to have these larger entities comply with the regulations,” Wasylyk said this week. “It’s a good feeling [to win] for each individual because they couldn’t litigate these small claims themselves.”

In this case of the Deloitte lawsuit, Wasylyk said he was working late last Friday night when he stopped to take a break and turned on the television. He noticed that McKee was having a press conference, and tuned in. He knew immediately that he was going to be working through the weekend on a lawsuit.

”The calls and emails haven’t stopped,” Wasylyk said.

It’s too soon to say how the case will play out, but Wasylyk said he’d like both compensation and long-term credit monitoring for anyone whose data may have been compromised.

If you were wondering, yes, class-action lawsuits can be lucrative for the attorneys, too. Wasylyk said cases can last many years, and he has to pay a lot of costs up front, but the Blue Cross settlement eventually generated millions of dollars for the lawyers involved. He was also part of a major settlement involving 84,000 retirees from Sears in 2001.

But he said it’s most rewarding to deliver for a consumer who might not have the resources to fight big companies themselves.”It sounds little, but even $25 to some people means a lot,” Wasylyk said.

This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you’d like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.

Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.

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Rhode Island

High School Schedule: Scores and recaps from Thursday’s games around RI

Published

15 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

High School Schedule: Scores and recaps from Thursday’s games around RI

Coaches are asked to send in game results by email – pjsports@providencejournal.com – or by calling the Sports desk between 6 and 10 p.m. on weeknights, at (401) 277-7340.

▶BOYS BASKETBALL

Division I

East Providence 55, Mount Pleasant 53

The Townies built enough of a lead in the first half that despite being outscored, 32-29, in the second frame, they were able to hold on to edge the Kilties. Tyler Gomez scored 15 points and Franklin Lopez added 10 more in the win. Ledell Henton and Benji Mordan topped the Kilties in scoring with 18 and 14 points, respectively, in the loss.

La Salle 78, North Kingstown 61

Nick Tarro poured in a game-high 21 points and teammates Jake Marcone had 19 and Lucas Gillis added 10 more as La Salle upended North Kingstown and moved to 3-0 on the season. Landon Boddington led the 1-1 Skippers with 17 points.

Barrington 60, Cumberland 40

The Eagles improved their record to 2-0 in D-1 with a dominant win over the Clippers. Barrington jumped out to a 12-0 lead and were never really challenged after that. Ryan Rigamonti scored 14 of his game high 20 points in the third quarter to pace the 2-0 Eagles and Caleb Satisfield and Colin McDermott also finished in double figures with 16 and 14 points, respectively. The Clippers were led by Ben Jahnz‘s four three pointers and 16 points and teammate Dylan Briere, who finished with 15.

Division II

Juanita Sanchez 67, Chariho 55

Robert Frazier-Robinson led all scorers with 27 points and Tyrelle Paye added 11 as the Cavaliers evened their record at 1-1 on the young season. Sean Westnedge led the Chargers with 21 points and Kian Underhill added 13 in the loss.

▶GIRLS BASKETBALL

Division I/II

South Kingstown 33, Cranston East 21

Makenzie Ribeiro led the Div. I Rebels with 13 points and Abigail O’Rourke added 5 to even SK’s record at 1-1. For the Div. II Thunderbolts (0-3), Ceanaa Tuazon scored a team-high 8 points and Isabella Dupret had 7 in the loss.

Division II

Narragansett 54, Johnston 18

Delaney Bonneau paced the Mariners with 15 points and recorded 6 rebounds and 3 steals in the win. Grace Blessing had 13 points, 8 assists and 9 boards and Brooke Caffrey added 12, as Gansett improved to 3-1. Annabella Gesualdi led the Panthers (1-3) with 9 points in the loss.

Division III

Davies 68, Times2 28

Aniyah Gomes poured in 17 points and teammates Jojo Ali and Deidra Delille scored 14 points apiece as Davies overwhelmed Times 2 in D-III contest. The Patriots’ win spoiled a solid outing by the Eagles’ Hadiya Jennings, who pumped in a game high 21 points in the loss.

▶BOYS HOCKEY

Nonleague

Ponaganset 5, Mount St Charles 5 (Tuesday)

Jake Steinkamp recorded a hat trick as Ponaganset scored twice with two minutes left to knot their nonleague contest with Mounties. Brennan Printer and Cody Sabatos also scored for the Chieftains. In net, Ponaganset goalies AJ Murgida and Rootie Boisvert made 15 saves apiece. (No stats were provided for Mount St. Charles.)

BOYS BASKETBALL

Mount St. Charles at Juanita Sanchez, 6 p.m.

Portsmouth at Hendricken, 6:30 p.m.

Times2 vs. St. Patrick at RI School for the Deaf, 7 p.m.

Coventry at Westerly, 7 p.m.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Bay View at St. Raphael, 3:45 p.m.

Central at PCD, 4:30 p.m.

Juanita Sanchez vs. Moses Brown at Wheeler School, 5:30 p.m.

Scituate vs. Rogers at the Martin Recreation Center, 5:30 p.m.

Paul Cuffee/St. Patrick at Mount Pleasant, 5:30 p.m.

Shea/Tolman at Classical, 6 p.m.

Westerly at Portsmouth, 6:30m p.m.

Coventry at East Providence, 6:30 p.m.

Achievement First at Burrillville, 6:30 p.m.

Hope at Prout, 6:30 p.m.

Ponaganset at Barrington, 7 p.m.

Cranston West at La Salle, 7 p.m.

South Kingstown at North Kingstown, 7 p.m.

Cumberland at East Greenwich, 7 p.m.

Tiverton at Lincoln, 7 p.m.

Middletown at Exeter-West Greenwich, 7 p.m.

BOYS ICE HOCKEY

Pilgrim vs. Moses Brown at Thayer Arena, 3:45 p.m.

Portsmouth vs. Ponaganset at Levy Arena, 5 p.m.

South Kingstown/Westerly vs. Narragansett/Chariho at Boss Arena, 6:30 p.m.

Coventry/Johnston vs. Cumberland at Lynch Rink, 7 p.m.

Barrington at Burrillville, 7 p.m.

Smithfield vs. Hendricken at Thayer Arena, 7:15 p.m.

West Warwick/Exeter-West Greenwich vs. East Greenwich/Toll Gate at Benny Magiera Rink, 8 p.m.

Rogers Co-op vs. North Kingstown at Boss Arena, 8:15 p.m.

Prout vs. La Salle at Smithfield Rink, 8:30 p.m.

GIRLS ICE HOCKEY

Smith/Cov/MB vs.TG/Pilgrim at Thayer Arena, 5:30 p.m.

East Bay Co-Op at Cranston Co-Op at Cranston Vets, 8:10 p.m.

BOYS SWIMMING

PCD vs. East Greenwich at McDermott Pool, 6 p.m.

GIRLS SWIMMING

Smithfield vs. BVP/CF at MacColl YMCA, 4:30 p.m.

Toll Gate vs. Tolman/Shea/St. Pats at Pawtucket Boys and Girls Club, 5 p.m.

PCD/St. Rays vs. East Greenwich at McDermott Pool, 6 p.m.

Mt. Hope vs. Burrillville at Smithfield YMCA, 6:15 p.m.

BOYS INDOOR TRACK

RIIL Meet at PCTA, 5:30 p.m.

GIRLS INDOOR TRACK

RIIL Meet at PCTA, 5:30 p.m.

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Rhode Island

Fall River, Rhode Island and Ethan Allen: Three Local Clues in One 'Jeopardy!' Episode

Published

24 hours ago

December 19, 2024

Press Room

Fall River, Rhode Island and Ethan Allen: Three Local Clues in One 'Jeopardy!' Episode

Our corner of New England was well-represented on Jeopardy! Wednesday night, as three different clues pertained to Massachusetts and Rhode Island – including one about Fall River’s most infamous resident.

It’s not uncommon for either the Bay State or the Ocean State to be part of a Jeopardy! clue, but it’s hard to remember an episode in which both were featured so prominently as they were on December 18.

In the first round, the category “That’s Weird” had a clue that was definitely an easy one for any person on the SouthCoast.

Host Ken Jennings read, “The Weird U.S. Travel Guide includes such sights as the Fall River, Massachusetts house of this accused murderess,” and an image very similar to this one appeared on the board:

Contestant Ashley had the correct answer: Lizzie Borden.

The Double Jeopardy round had the category “D.C.’s Statuary Hall” with two locally-themed clues.

The $1200 clue was: “Vermont has a statue of him, despite or maybe in part because of the fact he was run out of towns in Massachusetts and Connecticut.”

Ashley guessed wrong on that one, answering “Who is Benedict Arnold?” The correct answer was Ethan Allen. Obviously, Ashley never bought furniture in New England, at least not from an Ethan Allen store. Maybe from an Ashley Furniture store, though.

Rhode Island got in on the fun with the $1600 clue from the same category.

The clue was, “Rhode Island honors Nathanael Greene and this man, which seems the least the state could do, as he founded the original colony.”

Do you know it? Here’s a hint: there is both a zoo and a university named after him.

“Who is Roger Williams?”

A Real SouthCoast Native Would Know the Answers to These Jeopardy Questions

It was always so interesting to hear about episodes where the gameshow participants on Jeopardy answered questions about our little corner of the world. The fact that New Bedford and Fall River have been collectively mentioned approximately 30 times since 1988 is astounding.

We chose a few of our favorite questions and listed them below for our audience to work through. Let’s see how many of these questions you can answer correctly. Tell us how many you got without looking at the answer.

Gallery Credit: Kasey Silvia