Rhode Island
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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PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – Rhode Island won it’s 10th Atlantic 10 Rowing title, securing the win with a victory in the Varsity 8 Saturday at Cooper River Park.
It’s the third title in the last four years for the Rams, who earn the Atlantic 10’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Rhode won the Varsity 8 and Second Varsity 8 races to secure the victory.
Massachusetts finished second in the standings with 46 points, winning the Varsity 4 and placing second in the Second Varsity 8 and third in the Varsity 8. George Washington placed third overall, just one point behind UMass with 45 points, placing second in the Varsity 8 and third in the Second Varsity 8 and Varsity 4.
Fordham was fourth with 33 points, followed by La Salle (29 points), Saint Joseph’s (26) and Duquesne (21). George Mason and Dayton rounded out the team standings.
Rhody’s Varsity 8 team won a tightly contested grand final over George Washington and Massachusetts with a time of 6:45.204, topping the Revolutionaries (6:49.544) by four seconds.
URI also claimed the Second Varsity 8 with a time of 6:55.6. UMass (6:59.771) and GW (7:02.350) earned silver and bronze respectively.
Massachusetts won the Varsity 4 with a 7:39.620, followed by Saint Joseph’s (7:44,.487) and GW (7:53.112).
UMass also won the two non-scoring events, taking the Varsity 4B at 8:04.765 and the Third Varsity 8 with a 7:22.861. GW was second in the 3V8, clocking in at 7:25.761 and Duquesne was third with a 7:28.857. The Revolutionaries also were second in the Varsity 4B with a 8:12.167 while Rhody was third with a 8:16.705.
KINGSTON, R.I. – Rhode Island Rowing won its 10th Atlantic 10 Championship in program history on Saturday in thrilling fashion, with racing coming down to the final event on the Cooper River.
The Varsity 8+ crew of coxswain Lily Stasaitis, Catie Castle, Bethany Nordstrom, Nicole Jones, Samantha Gumprecht, Cait Reardon, Emma Barnhart, Sarah Pecoraro and Bella Bruno sprinted past George Washington in the final 1000m of its race for a first-place finish (6:45.2) that lifted URI to the team title.
Rhode Island finished with 51 points, followed by Massachusetts (46 points) and George Washington (45 points).
The Second Varsity 8+ joined the aforementioned boat by finishing first in its event. Coxswain Ellie McGee, Jessica Tosi, Olivia Kowalski, Hailey Pardi, Sammie Gorecki, Eryn Wale, Amanda Cubit, Maia Hembruff and Emma Larsh bested second-place UMass by half a length to pick up what was the team’s first gold medals of the day.
Rhody’s Varsity 4+ crew of coxswain Evelyn Tabor, Emily Olin, Emma Brookins, Jasmyn Hayes and Alexis Moore began the competition amongst the scoring boats with a fourth-place finish (7:55.0). The Third Varsity 8+ just missed the podium as well, crossing the line fourth (7:31.6).
URI’s Second Varsity 4+ crew of coxswain Sawyer McNish, Irma Accius, Anna Kann, Abby Galayda and Brigid McShea placed third in its final with a time of 8:16.7
Castle, Jones and Nordstrom earned spots on the All-Atlantic 10 First Team while Barnhart received a Second Team nod. Head coach Shelagh Donohoe won A10 Coach of the Year for the ninth time in her career.
Rhode Island has secured the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, which is being held on East Fork/Harsha Lake in Bethel, Ohio from May 31 through June 2. The Rams will learn of their seeding in the selection show, which is at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21. It will stream live on NCAA.com.
Team Standings
1. Rhode Island – 51
2. Massachusetts – 46
3. George Washington – 45
4. Fordham – 33
5. La Salle – 29
6. Saint Joseph’s – 26
7. Duqeusne – 21
8. George Mason – 11
9. Dayton – 7
Rhode Island Finals Results
Second Varsity 4+ – Grand Final
1. Massachusetts – 8:04.7
2. George Washington – 8:12.1
3. Rhode Island – 8:16.7
4. Fordham – 8:57.2
5. George Mason – 9:09.2
Third Varsity 8+ – Grand Final
1. Massachusetts – 7:22.8
2. George Washington – 7:25.7
3. Duquesne – 7:28.8
4. Rhode Island – 7:31.6
5. Fordham – 7:55.4
Varsity 4+ – Grand Final
1. Massachusetts – 7:39.6
2. Saint Joseph’s – 7:44.4
3. George Washington – 7:53.1
4. Rhode Island – 7:55.0
5. Fordham – 8:09.9
6. Duquesne – 8:19.3
Second Varsity 8+ – Grand Final
1. Rhode Island – 6:55.6
2. Massachusetts – 6:59.7
3. George Washington – 7:02.3
4. LaSalle – 7:09.1
5. Fordham – 7:14.6
6. Duquesne – 7:18.6
Varsity 8+ – Grand Final
1. Rhode Island – 6:45.2
2. George Washington – 6:49.5
3. Massachusetts – 7:00.1
4. Fordham – 7:01.8
5. LaSalle – 7:05.2
6. Saint Joseph’s – 7:12.5
Here are some of The Providence Journal’s most-read stories for the week of May 12, supported by your subscriptions.
Here are the week’s top reads on providencejournal.com:
Rhode Island has violated the federal civil rights of hundreds of children with mental-health or developmental disabilities by “routinely and unnecessarily segregating” them at Bradley Hospital, U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha said Monday.
Rather than placing children with such disabilities in intensive in-home or community-based programs, Cunha said the state’s Department of Children, Youth & Families has over-relied on hospitalizing them at Bradley, leaving them there for weeks, months and, in a few cases, more than a year.
“Rhode Island has failed, miserably and repeatedly, to meet its legal obligations to children with mental-health and developmental disabilities,” he said.
What comes next for DCYF after U.S. Attorney’s scathing accusations?
Mental health care: ‘Appalling’: Feds accuse RI DCYF of ‘warehousing’ children at Bradley Hospital. What to know.
Gov. Dan McKee has quietly asked lawmakers to approve a tax relief-and-spending package for Citizens Bank that includes the proposed state purchase of a Citizens-owned building on Tripps Lane in East Providence for more than twice its current $16.9 million assessed value.
A second of two unannounced budget amendments has Democrat McKee asking lawmakers to allow a tweak in the state’s “financial institutions tax” that could potentially cost the state millions in revenue.
Within the State House, it is believed to be a targeted effort to assist Citizens for unstated reasons, though it does not specifically name the company.
Read on to find out what we know about the Citizens Bank deal – and what we don’t.
Business: Inside McKee’s 11th hour pitch to keep Citizens Bank – and its jobs – in RI. Here’s the deal.
Spread too thin as owner/chef, and with two other businesses, Ben Lloyd will close his Salted Slate this month. The Wayland Square restaurant has had a 10-year run serving lunch, brunch and dinner in Providence. The last day of service is May 31.
News of that closing was compounded by a Facebook notice that a second Wayland Square institution, Minerva’s Pizza at 20 South Angell St., has also shuttered. Kabalan and Kaylin Habchi bought the restaurant in 2002 and have run the pizzeria since.
Did the traffic disruptions of the Washington Bridge closure play a role? Journal food editor Gail Ciampa talks with Lloyd about the stresses that led to his difficult decision.
Dining: Two restaurant closures stun Wayland Square. How much is the Washington Bridge to blame?
Byron Valle and Douglas Leon were in a crowd of about 2,000 soccer fans gathered at Merino Park when they were shot to death in 1987.
Thirty-seven years later, police are still trying to find the man who pulled the trigger. The accused killer is Julio Merida, and he’s among a small group of fugitives identified as “Rhode Island’s Most Wanted.”
Featured on a webpage maintained by the Rhode Island State Fusion Center at state police headquarters, each of the most-wanted fugitives has a story. Read on to learn more about Merida and seven other men on the most-wanted list, as well as instructions from the state police about what to do if you have any information that could aid in apprehending them.
Crime: Have you seen these men? Here’s the list of Rhode Island’s most wanted fugitives
The end of this month could see Providence College already well down the road with respect to building its next men’s basketball recruiting class.
The Friars already hold a commitment from a 2025 prospect and could see two more before the calendar flips to June. The first could come as soon as Sunday afternoon.
Jamier Jones will announce his decision live on Instagram, and he was scheduled to start a final visit to Providence over the weekend. Jaylen Harrell is set to pledge May 27, and the Friars are also among his last six schools under consideration. Journal sportswriter Bill Koch explains the impact they could have on PC’s basketball program.
College sports: Two more top prospects might commit to Providence basketball this month. Who are they?
To read the full stories, go to providencejournal.com. Find out how to subscribe here.
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