House
Judiciary Committee passes bill to codify Roe v Wade
 |
| Filippi searches for his talking points |
EDITOR’S NOTE: Charlestown is cursed to have Rep.
Blake “Flip” Filippi as its only Representative in the RI House of Representatives.
An
avowed Libertarian, “Flip” lived up to his nickname by discarding Libertarians’ core principles of protecting
privacy and individual rights by opposing this legislation which would
protect women’s right to choose.
Filippi has shown, time and again, that his
only core principle is advancing his own self-interest. – Will Collette
The Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee
approved the Reproductive Privacy
Act (RPA), House Bill 5125 Substitute A, on a
9-7 vote. The bill now moves on to a full vote on the House floor on Thursday,
according to Committee Chair Robert
Craven. Craven estimated that the bill will pass on a close vote –
“percentage-wise” the same as the House Committee.
The discussion within the committee
was at times heated, at times emotional, and often pedantic.
“This is a strict codification
of Roe v Wade,”
said Craven (Democrat, District 32, North Kingstown), describing the bill.
“There have been several statutes over the years that the Rhode Island General Assembly has
made attempts to deal with abortion in statute, which have been, in my opinion,
unsuccessful, unenforceable and more importantly, unconstitutional…
“Roe v Wade and this statute deals
with science,” continued Craven. “The science of viability and not the
religious issues, the moral issues. It was the intent of the Supreme Court, in
deciding Roe v Wade, to deal with viability in the context of science.
Viability meaning: When does a fetus acquire the status where it becomes a
life?
“I believe,” said Craven, “my
reading of this as both a lawyer and a legislator, is that the ability to get a
late term abortion, that which is most offensive, I believe, to the Catholics
that live in my district and in some instances are members of my family, it
will be much harder to accomplish such a goal, of a late term abortion, if this
bill passed, than under existing law as we sit here today.”
Conservative Representative Arthur Corvese (Democrat,
District 55, North Providence) disagreed with Craven. The bill, said Corvese,
“is not a strict codification of Roe v Wade. For that reason, and several
others not necessary to delve into at this time, I’ll be voting no on this
bill.”
“Are there legal penalties if
someone performs a third trimester abortion, in violation of the law?” asked
Minority Leader Blake Filippi (Republican,
District 36, Charlestown, New Shoreham, South Kingstown, Westerly). “Or are
those just subject to discipline under professional conduct?”
Filippi pointed out that there are
no criminal charges in the law regarding a doctor violating the statute.
When
Craven corrected Filippi, and pointed out that there were criminal penalties,
Filippi said, ”I would suggest a misdemeanor isn’t enough.”
Filippi agreed with Corvese, saying
that the legislation “goes beyond Roe v Wade.” Filippi took issue with the idea
that a third trimester abortion could be performed if the pregnancy threatened
the health of the mother. “Health includes mental health,” said Filippi. He
also wanted a definition of the term “necessary.”
“Because there’s no definition of
necessary, and health is broad, I think it creates a very gray area that
doctors can operate in,” said Filippi. Since the doctor making the
determination is the doctor who performs the abortion, “I think it creates a
moral hazard,” said Filippi. “I think we’re setting ourselves up to have
violations.”
“Next,” said Filippi, “I really want
to go into fetal homicide…”
Filippi then graphically described an assault on a
woman that results in a third trimester abortion. “The charge that we’re left
with is a simple assault charge… We need to protect women who are victims of
criminal action,” said Filippi.
Craven pointed out that there are “a
plethora of other charges that are serious and draconian in not only their
penalties, but their sentencing guidelines.”
Undisuaded, Filippi moved onto
partial-birth abortions, which he sees as being allowed under the RPA.
Representative Evan Shanley (Democrat,
District 24, Warwick) pointed out that all late term abortions are banned under
the RPA, except when necessary to ensure the health of the pregnant woman, but
Filippi persisted, saying that partial-birth abortion is a method of abortion
and allowed in cases when the health of the pregnant woman is at risk.
“The alternative,” said
Vice-Chair Carol Hagan McEntee (Democrat,
District 33, South Kingstown, Narragansett) “would be to not have that
exception for the life of the mother. Are you suggesting that we don’t preserve
the life of the mother?”
McEntee was the first and only woman legislator to
speak.
Filippi slipped back to his earlier
point. “I’m suggesting we define necessary and we define health… We heard
earlier that it’s the mental health as well. Is that what we’re doing? That to
preserve the mental health, we can allow a third trimester abortion?”
“Mental health and physical health
are completely inter-related,” said Representative Daniel Mckiernan (Democrat, District 7,
Providence). “Health is health. Whether it’s a mental illness or a physical
illness.
Representative David Place (Republican,
District 47, Burrillville, Glocester) opposed the legislation. He said the
legislation was ambiguous, and therefore unclear. Corvese agreed, saying that
if four different lawyers discussing the legislation in the committee (Craven,
Filippi, McEntee and McKiernan) couldn’t agree on the interpretation and
definitions in the language, the law was not ready to be passed. McKiernan
argued that finding four lawyers to agree on anything was unlikely.
Representative Christopher Millea (Democrat,
District 16, Cranston), also a lawyer, ended the discussion with his
interpretation that the RPA expanded abortion rights and didn’t just codify
existing protections. “I am not one to take away the choice of any female who
walks this earth… but I will not be part of the expansion of abortion,” said
Millea.
After Millea’s statement, the vote
was taken.
Steve Ahlquist is a frontline reporter in Rhode
Island. He has covered human rights, social justice, progressive politics and
environmental news for half a decade.Uprise RI is his new project, and he's
doing all he can to make it essential reading.atomicsteve@gmail.com
