Steph Machado & Ted Nesi ||| May 14, 2019 |||
The Senate panel voted 5-4 against the Reproductive Health Care Act, sponsored by Sen. Gayle Goldin, D-Providence. The move was widely expected after the panel’s most likely swing vote, Democratic Sen. Stephen Archambault, announced late Monday he could not support the bill as written. He said Goldin had rejected his proposal for alternative language that would be more limited.
However, the committee also voted to hold the House’s companion abortion bill for further study rather than defeat that, too — leaving open a path to return to the issue later in the session. Nevertheless, angry activists erupted in protests immediately after the hearing, even occupying the Senate chamber.
