Ensure that the women of Rhode Island retain sovereign and constitutional rights to govern themselves

TWP
June 1st, 2018
No Comments

I am a 64-year-old resident of Narragansett, Rhode Island and I would like this testimony to be included regarding Bill #S2163 in your committee hearing to be held today, May 31, 2018.

I have been an outspoken supporter of the rights of American women for over 40 years. I believe that women have the intelligence, compassion and fortitude to determine their own reproductive health requirements and thus should retain the right to control their own bodies, including their reproductive organs. This bill protects the right of women to make decisions about their bodies, a right all men enjoy with no exclusion.

While I am heartened by the recent overwhelming support of women’s reproductive rights in Ireland this past weekend, I am deeply disappointed and frightened by the on going assault across the United States of the rights of women to control their own reproductive organs.

I support this bill to ensure that the women of Rhode Island retain sovereign and constitutional rights to govern themselves, to have access to birth control, to medical procedures as necessary to ensure their health and well being.

To say this bill is strictly about abortion would be incorrect but to say that this bill includes the right guaranteed by the Supreme Court of the United States to access to abortion when necessary is valid. Your personal feelings have no bearing on this issue. You were elected to uphold to law and to create new and lasting freedoms and protections under the law to your citizens as I am sure I don’t need to remind you. Women and their medical teams are the only people who should be privy to what takes place in a medical facility. Reproductive organs are the most complex of the human body and the kinds of conditions and medical issues and emergencies that necessitate medical intervention in ways unfathomable to most non-medical people.

By not allowing this bill to receive the full examination of the Rhode Island State Senate is a travesty of injustice and a severe insult to the women you represent.

I urge you to release this bill for full examination of the Senate. I believe that women’s rights are human rights and you are jeopardizing those rights that you swore to uphold by not moving it forward. Your language as I recall is to “hold the bill for further study”. You have had several years to conduct that study, and my assumption is that as soon as you complete your hearings, you toss these papers into a drawer and hope to not have to hear this issue in the next session. Perhaps the selection of articles on the concerted attempt to reduce women’s reproductive freedom listed with links below might help with your research.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/in-one-year-trump-dismantled-reproductive-rights-around-the-world_us_5a623b94e4b074ce7a080152

https://apnews.com/0a165e54c0a94600871539472ba82ba1

https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a20703447/restrictive-abortion-laws-2018/

https://www.buzzfeed.com/laurasilver/ireland-has-officially-voted-yes-to-relaxing-its-strict

https://medium.com/@NARAL/anti-choice-extremists-are-planning-an-unprecedented-attack-on-roe-v-wade-fa953c8a4156

If not, some of you may not be sitting in your seats at the next session.
And one of the reasons might be the lack of courage you showed by not bringing this bill to a full vote.

Sincerely,
Deborah Kopech
Testimony submitted for Judiciary Hearing on

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Ensure that the women of Rhode Island retain sovereign and constitutional rights to govern themselves

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