Rhode Island
She’s running for U.S. Senate and is trying to ban gender-affirming care for minors in RI
Gender-affirming care for minors banned despite Ohio governor’s veto
Ohio’s GOP-dominated senate voted to ban gender-affirming care for minors and bar transgender women and girls from competing on sports teams.
Straight Arrow News
PROVIDENCE – For Republican state Rep. Patricia Morgan, gender-affirming surgery or treatment for minors, and the participation of transgender athletes in school sports, are issues on which to mount a U.S. Senate campaign.
In an email recently sent by her campaign, Morgan, R-West Warwick, flagged a hearing taking place Tuesday on her legislation to ban – and prohibit the use of public funds for – “gender reassignment” treatments for minors. It would also require minors currently taking “puberty-blocking drugs or cross-sex hormones” to stop doing so by Jan. 1, 2025.
Morgan, who hopes to replace incumbent U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, wrote in her email: “Activist educators and health care workers, driven more by ideology than by genuine concern for well-being, are targeting our children.”
Rather than offering “proven therapeutic interventions” to children struggling with mental health, their self-image and their family situations, Morgan argues that “ideologues offer a dangerous and deceitful promise: that all their problems can simply be medicated or surgically cut away.”
What do the bills do?
The West Warwick legislator and two of her House Republican colleagues – Reps. Brian Rea and Robert Quattrocchi – have dubbed their bill, H7884, the “Rhode Island’s Children Deserve Help Not Harm Act.” It’s one of two gender-related bills they sponsor that will be considered by House committees this week.
The first bill:
- Bans any “gender-transition procedures” and hormone therapies on those under the age of 18.
- Opens any doctor who performs such procedures to civil suits and discipline by the state’s medical licensing board.
The second bill, called the “The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” (H7727), will be heard Wednesday in the House Education Committee and would:
- Ban “students of the male sex” from women’s or girls’ sports.
- In the event of a dispute, require a doctor’s note attesting to the student’s sex based on the “student’s internal and external reproductive anatomy,” hormone levels and genetic makeup.
Why is Morgan sponsoring the bills?
First up in the House on Tuesday is a hearing by the House Health & Human Services Committee on the gender-transition bill that has already drawn a heavy stream of comments for and against the legislation.
In an interview Tuesday, Morgan told The Journal that about two dozen parents have told her they believe their children – or others they’ve heard about – are being “manipulated” into seeking gender-affirming treatments.
She cited a pending malpractice lawsuit against the Thundermist Health Clinic by a former patient who alleges she was in “unstable psychiatric condition,” with eight distinct personalities, when she sought and received “transgender affirming treatment” from agenda-pushing doctors at the clinic.
But despite sending an email blast from her campaign account on the bills, Morgan says the issue is not central to her platform.
“No, it’s not going to be the thing that I base my run for the U.S. Senate on,” Morgan said. “But I do still think that it’s a very important issue that we must tackle to protect children.”
“Parents are being manipulated, emotionally blackmailed into agreeing to give their children puberty-blockers by this statement: ‘Do you want a dead child or a child with a different gender?’” she continued.
More: State Republican lawmaker Patricia Morgan is quietly running for the U.S. Senate
Testimony in favor of the bill
- “Please pass this bill,” wrote David and Theresa Casale of Lincoln. “What is being done to this generation of children is a disgrace. Evil is only way to describe it.”
- “This bill is not anti-trans; it’s pro-child. It’s about recognizing that children cannot, and do not, have the capacity to give informed consent to life-altering medical procedures. It’s about protecting them until they are of an age where they can make these decisions with a full understanding of the consequences,” wrote Kimberly Trow of Coventry.
- “Children do not have the mental capacity, especially when they are in crisis, depressed, suicidal or just angry at their parents or the world, to make the kind of alterations to their bodies that this bill would prevent. Allow them to make these crucial decisions as adults,” echoed Laura Rom of Charlestown.
Testimony against the bill
Most, though not all, who opposed the bill acknowledged a personal connection to the population it would affect.
- “My name is Eliza and I’m a cisgender, queer freshman in high school with many trans and genderqueer friends. Do not let H7884 pass. Many people close to me have not been able to access gender-affirming care, and for those who have had access to it, it has improved their mental health tremendously. If anything, we need more access to this life-saving care. Yes, life-saving. I have been extremely close to losing multiple transgender friends to suicide after their depression and dysphoria fed off each other,” the teen wrote.
- Writing as the “proud parent of a bright and beautiful transgender teen, Amber Ward, of Bristol, urged “swift and decisive action” to dispense with this “hateful and deeply harmful anti-transgender legislation.” “I appeal to your decency and your humanity,” she wrote the legislators. “It is well and credibly documented that anti-LGBTQ+ laws and policies adversely impact the mental health of youth.”
- And finally, Alice Kasumi Ellis, of Woonsocket, wrote as “someone who is a transgender woman and was prescribed Estradiol(Estrogen) and Spironolactone, an anti-androgen, at the age of 15 in conjunction with common medical practices for the treatment of Gender Dysphoria.” “In fact I would most likely not be alive today without receiving such treatment at that time in my life,” she wrote. “What contributes to struggles with my mental health are not [Hormone Replacement Therapy] or Puberty Blockers, but the exact societal stigma and bigoted language in this bill and others of its ilk that makes me feel alienated from society and afraid for my safety due to the constant harassment and violence I have personally faced, along with that of my community.”
A new era for State Troopers in southern RI
Closing the State Police barracks facilities in Wyoming and Wickford marks the end of an era in community policing
Republican candidate for lieutenant governor John Loughlin wants the office to become the Rhode Island inspector general his party has been seeking in vain for years.
Loughlin, a former state representative, said on May 11 that, if elected, he would staff the underutilized office with people who would help him expose “fraud, waste, abuse, and government corruption.”
“Rhode Islanders are sick and tired of watching their tax dollars disappear into a black hole of inefficiency, cronyism, and outright corruption while the General Assembly talks a big game but delivers nothing − year after year after year,” Loughlin said in a news release. “For more than two decades, the legislature has failed to create a true Inspector General with real investigative power. Enough is enough. If they won’t do it, the Lieutenant Governor’s Office will − starting on day one.”
Why turn the lieutenant governor into an inspector general?
The Rhode Island Constitution gives the lieutenant governor little to no authority beyond being available in case the governor is unable to finish their term. That’s prompted some to call it a “do nothing” office and others to propose abolishing it.
“Frankly, the current workload of the office leaves ample time and resources to do far more for taxpayers than ceremonial appearances and ribbon-cuttings,” Loughlin said in his news release. “Rhode Islanders deserve a Lieutenant Governor’s Office that works every day to protect their money and hold government accountable.”
The lieutenant governor’s office has a budget of $1.4 million, which Loughlin said is enough to staff and run an effective investigative team made up of “certified auditors, investigators, and compliance professionals” to review state agency spending and contracts.
He acknowledged that the lieutenant governor does not have subpoena power, but believes that investigations can be completed utilizing public records requests and gathering publicly-available data.
Loughlin, who ended his talk radio show earlier this year when he announced his campaign for governor, said he would communicate his findings through “RI Report” publications, news briefings and podcasts.
He said he would also make the office’s resources available to city and town leaders.
Republicans have been fighting for an inspector general
Rhode Island Republicans have for years promised to lower state spending by rooting out government waste, fraud and abuse. The last GOP Rhode Island governor, Donald Carcieri, launched a “Fiscal Fitness” program that aimed to save money and find efficiencies.
Democrats criticized Carcieri’s tenure for featuring exorbitant privatization and outsourcing.
Since Carcieri, the idea of creating an independent inspector general similar to those in other states has become a holy grail for Rhode Island Republicans, but the Democratic General Assembly has had little interest in it.
“If our office saves just 1% from Rhode Island’s bloated state budget, the savings would return more than ten times the entire cost of the Lieutenant Governor’s Office to taxpayers – and that’s only the beginning,” Loughlin said in the news release.
The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 10, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Numbers numbers from May 10 drawing
Midday: 9-9-9-0
Evening: 5-5-0-9
Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Wild Money numbers from May 10 drawing
01-13-14-16-32, Extra: 02
Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 10 drawing
01-03-20-35-46, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes less than $600 can be claimed at any Rhode Island Lottery Retailer. Prizes of $600 and above must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters, 1425 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, Rhode Island 02920.
- Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners can decide on cash or annuity payment within 60 days after becoming entitled to the prize. The annuitized prize shall be paid in 30 graduated annual installments.
- Winners of the Millionaire for Life top prize of $1,000,000 a year for life and second prize of $100,000 a year for life can decide to collect the prize for a minimum of 20 years or take a lump sum cash payment.
When are the Rhode Island Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Midday): 1:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Evening): 7:29 p.m. ET daily.
- Wild Money: 7:29 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Watch: Khano Smith speaks with media after RIFC drew Tampa Bay
Watch as Khano Smith speaks with media after RIFC drew Tampa Bay
PAWTUCKET — JJ Williams finally had his space and rose to the opportunity.
The Rhode Island FC striker, deep in the attacking zone, came back to a cross and headed Nick Scardina’s service to the near post to salvage the night for Rhode Island. Williams’ goal landed in the 86th minute to draw Tampa Bay Rowdies, 1-1, in rain-soaked Pawtucket.
It’s the third draw in USL Championship play for Rhode Island at Centreville Bank Stadium this season. RIFC was turning in a familiar performance before snagging the tie against the league-leading Rowdies as Williams supplied his third regular-season goal of the year. The draw is the first time RIFC has earned a result after the opposition opened the scoring since its 1-1 tie vs. Birmingham Legion FC on July 5, 2025.
Rhode Island now travels to USL League One side Portland Hearts of Pine for its second game of the 2026 Prinx Tires USL Cup group stage on Saturday, May 16 at 4 p.m. The club returns to Pawtucket on May 23 against Brooklyn FC.
“All night they made it tough because they were doubling,” Williams said of Tampa Bay. “And wherever I went to, they were going contact first, especially in this league with no [Video Assistant Referee] … but on that one, the ball was so good that they spun around, and then I was able to make good contact.”
Rhode Island had a string of missed chances in the first 15 minutes that fed into a goal for Tampa Bay and then a triple substitution in the second half that provided little spark. Max Schneider’s cross from right of the box found Pedro Dolabella at the far post for a clinical header in the 29th minute in front of an announced attendance of 6,790.
The game’s first score came just 10 minutes after attempts from Hugo Bacharach and Jojea Kwizera were saved and Williams sailed an open shot past the bar.
“We tried to correct some of those things that we struggled with last week,” Williams said. “Getting to the ball, making tackles, making a stick, I think that we weren’t as clean in possession as we would have been, especially as we won the ball and played forward. We had a lot of turnovers in the first half where we could have seen more chances, but we did well to weather the storm early and create some. But for me, I [have] to bury that first one.”
Rhode Island creates plenty of chances — it is tied for fourth with 112 attempts — but has just 12 goals this season. If it had finished one of the early chances against Tampa Bay, it would’ve shifted the tenor of the match and forced the visitors to play outside of its form. But the final scoring sequence is still missing with the summer months coming soon.
“Happy with the spirit, happy with the effort, happy with the fight,” RIFC coach Khano Smith said. “You’ve seen that a lot with our team. They just fought to the end, never gave up, kept pushing. Ultimately, it’s two more points dropped at home, and we need to find a way to stop doing that. We need to be ruthless – just ruthless in front of the goal.”
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