Here’s the good news…
In New York City, we saw democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani win the exceptionally competitive and highly anticipated mayoral race. The two gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey also resulted in wins not just for democrats, but for women as well! Virginia, previously governed by Republican Glenn Youngkin, flipped and elected Democrat Abigail Spanberger, while Democrat Mikie Sherrill won in New Jersey. Another win came in California, with Proposition 50 passing, giving democrats the potential to gain 5 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. These wins tell us that LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights, and voter rights are a priority for voters across the country.
and here’s what we need to do next
Given all of these wins, there’s no doubt that republicans are also taking note, recognizing the need to strategize and rebuild the support they seem to be losing. While these recent wins have been a positive for us and suggest that voters are fed up with harsh conservative policies, it does not mean that our work is done. With the mid-terms approaching, things will get worse as republicans ramp up in preparation, and we need to do the same. We need to maintain the momentum from these wins and ensure that it continues on to the mid-term elections. It is time for all of us to speak out, show up, and protect our democracy.
Rhode Islanders are at risk of losing their voting rights.
This may be the first time you’re hearing this, and that’s most likely because state officials do not realize or even believe that voter rights could be at risk. However, until explicit voter rights protections are incorporated into our state laws, we cannot be sure that our right to vote will remain secure. While this might seem like premature concern to some, it is important to recognize that as a state, we have been here in the past. Before Roe was overturned, the RI General Assembly repeatedly told us that this would not happen and that Roe wasn’t going anywhere.
Unfortunately, they were wrong, but fortunately, we had prepared for this outcome by getting the Reproductive Privacy Act of 2019 passed, codifying the protections of Roe v. Wade in RI. This protected our state when Roe v. Wade was officially overturned in 2022, which is why now, in 2025, we are shifting our focus towards protecting voter rights. The Womxn Project is no stranger to the way federal policies and decisions can impact our state, hence why we developed our RI4All series, an educational set of videos describing the cause-and-effect relationship between federal and local politics.
Our plans for action include the following:
– Protecting voting rights in Rhode Island.
– Further developing our Bodily Freedom Forever Index (BFFI) tool.
– Banning discriminatory practices in RI Health Insurance packages.
– Defending access to reproductive rights in RI, along with pushing to expand them.
Without voting rights, we cannot have bodily freedom.
Republicans won’t extend the ACA without tighter abortion restrictions.
The government shutdown began when Republicans refused to include an ACA Tax Credit extension in their spending bill, despite this tax credit making health insurance more affordable for millions of people throughout the country. In order to end the shutdown, eight Senate Democrats struck a deal with Senate Republicans, resulting in the Senate’s commitment to holding a vote on this issue. However, recent reports have revealed that Republicans are refusing to extend the ACA premium tax credits until Democrats agree to implement harsher abortion restrictions.
Without the extension of the ACA, countless Americans will face catastrophic healthcare consequences. Health insurance premiums could more than double for many Americans leading to millions losing coverage. This is on top of the millions who could lose benefits when Trump’s Medicaid cuts go into effect. On the other hand, if Democrats do sacrifice reproductive healthcare by agreeing to the implementation of more severe abortion restrictions, girls, women, and people assigned female at birth will be disproportionately impacted and left to suffer the devastating repercussions of this decision.
This entire situation has left many supporters of the Democratic Party questioning the party’s ability to represent the best interests of the people. With this recent news, it is important for us to (once again) remind our elected officials to protect reproductive rights.
