By Globe Staff | May 5, 2022 || The 2019 Reproductive Privacy Act protects the right to an abortion in R.I., but high costs, a limited number of clinics, and other issues make accessing services difficult or impossible for many women.
If a woman does not have a car, or does not live in Providence, it may be difficult to even get to an abortion clinic, advocates say. There are only two clinics in the state — at Planned Parenthood and at Women and Infants Hospital — that perform elective surgical abortions, said Jocelyn Foye, the director of The Womxn Project. Both are located in Providence. Other clinics may provide pills that can terminate a pregnancy, but those clinics are also in the greater Providence area, Foye said.
“People see us as such a small state, so why would we need abortion clinics elsewhere? But they aren’t thinking of the poorest communities, where many times, there’s a lack of public transportation,” said Faye.
