Around New England

Rhode Island House Goes All-Nine-Months On Abortion

March 8, 2019

The Rhode Island House of Representatives has approved a bill that would effectively legalize abortion up to the moment of birth.

Rhode Island House Bill 5125 states: “Neither the state, nor any of its agencies, or political subdivisions shall … Restrict an individual person from terminating that individual person’s pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to preserve the health or life of that individual.”

Life-of-the-mother exceptions for late-term abortions are widely interpreted as including mental health, meaning they can justify a late-term abortion with no measurable standards.

The Rhode Island House approved the bill 44-30 on Thursday, March 7, according to the Providence Journal, which reports that the bill’s support in the Rhode Island Senate is uncertain.

Unlike a comparable bill in Massachusetts, the Rhode Island bill leaves intact an existing state law that a baby born alive after an attempted abortion receive life-saving care.

Massachusetts S. 1209, known as the ROE Act, would remove a provision in Massachusetts state law requiring doctors to try to save the life of a baby born after an attempted abortion.