Legislation

We strongly supported a proposed change to the state’s Fair Employment Practices Act which would have expanded the definition of “employee” to cover a wider breadth of working personnel.

By granting legal immunity to individuals engaged in commercial sexual activity who report a crime that they are either a victim of or witness to, this legislation would have created more comprehensive occupational safety for sex workers.

This critical legislation would guarantee that abortion is not only a legal right for all Rhode Islanders, but that it is economically accessible to all individuals.

We testified in opposition to a slew of anti-choice bills, noting that they deliberately attempted to chip away at the ability for Rhode Islanders to make their own reproductive choices.

Noting that all patients should be treated in a non-discriminatory manner by medical professionals, we supported legislation which will prohibit the denial of appropriate medical care to individuals based on various irrelevant characteristics.

Building upon the important work of the Reproductive Privacy Act, the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act would have ensured that abortion care is covered by Medicaid and within the health insurance plans of state employees.

The importance of the 2019 Reproductive Privacy Act – and continued advocacy around abortion rights – is especially clear in light of the slew of anti-choice bills which were introduced during this session.

We testified in favor of two bills which would have explicitly decriminalized sex work and ensured that sex workers would be able to approach their work without inappropriate stigmatization.

We testified in support of a bill which would have granted legal immunity to individuals engaged in commercial sexual activity who report a crime that they are either a victim of or witness to.