Senate Passes “24 hr Waiting Period”
by a vote of 27 to 9

Please contact your senator regarding their vote. Below, please find talking points.

The following senators voted in favor of instituting a 24 hour waiting period:

Senator Algiere (Westerly, Charlestown) (h) 596-2215
Senator Alves (Bill Sponsor) (West Warwick) (h) 828-4604
Senator Badeau (Woonsocket, Cumberland) (h) 766-7574
Senator Blais (Scituate, Foster, Coventry) (h) 826-2326
Senator Breene (West Greenwich, Richmond, Hopkinton, Exeter, Charlestown) (h) 397-9408
Senator Ciccone (Providence, North Providence) (h) 275-0949
Senator Cote (Woonsocket, North Smithfield) (h) 765-3360
Senator Damiani (East Providence) (h) 433-4522
Senator DaPonte (Pawtucket, East Providence) (h) 434-6701
Senator Doyle (Pawtucket) (h) 729-9988
Senator Felag (Warren, Tiverton, Bristol) (h) 245-7521
Senator Fogarty (North Smithfield, Glocester, Burrillville) (h) 949-0895
Senator Gallo (Cranston) (h) 942-8566
Senator Goodwin (Providence) (h) 272-3102
Senator Issa (Pawtucket, Cumberland, Central Falls) (h) 723-9700
Senator Lanzi (Cranston) (h) 946-7125
Senator Lenihan (Warwick, North Kingstown, East Greenwich) (h) 884-6398
Senator McBurney (Pawtucket) (h) 725-2459
Senator McCaffrey (Warwick) (h) 739-7576
Senator Metts (Providence) (h) 272-0112
President of the Senate, Senator Montalbano (Pawtucket, North Providence, Lincoln) (h) 353-3665
Senate Majority Leader, Senator Paiva-Weed (Newport, Jamestown) (h) 846-9984
Senator Polisena (Johnston) (h) 949-3119
Senator Raptakis (West Warwick, Warwick, East Greenwich, Coventry) (h) 397-2720
Senator Ruggerio (Providence, North Providence) (h) 331-6074
Senator Sheehan (North Kingstown, Narragansett) (h) 884-1077
Senator Walaska (Warwick) (h) 737-1065

**Please contact Anne at Planned Parenthood at 421-7820 x3114 to help with organizing in these districts. It is important to hold these Senators accountable.

The following Senators voted against instituting a waiting period. Please thank them for their courage and conviction– it was rough on Tuesday night:

Senator Bates (Bristol, Barrington) (h) 246-1379
Senator Gibbs (Tiverton, Newport, Middletown, Little Compton) (h) 846-1579
Senator Levesque (Portsmouth, Bristol) (h) 683-9194
Senator Perry (Providence) (h) 751-7165
Senator Pichardo (Providence) (w) 222-1849
Senator Revens (Warwick) (h) 738-8362
Senator Roberts (Warwick, Cranston) (h) 785-9068
Senator Sosnowski (South Kingstown, New Shoreham) (h) 783-7704
Senator Tassoni (Smithfield, North Smithfield) (h) 233-2602
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***Neither Senator Caprio (Providence, 455-0055) nor Senator Connors (Lincoln, Cumberland, 728-0828) placed a vote.***
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Don’t Mistake the “Women’s Right to Know Act” for pro-women legislation.
Information on Senate Bill S 275:

• This bill makes NO provisions for victims of rape or incest.
• A state imposed waiting period would postpone procedures by weeks, causing more abortions to be performed later in pregnancy, at greater medical risk to the woman. According to the Journal of American Medical Association, August 27, 1997 - Mississippi Study: “As a result of the 24 hour waiting period law, abortions performed after 12 weeks gestation increased by 39%.”
• This bill requires that women be given state-produced, biased illustrated pamphlets, which amounts to STATE PRODUCED PROPAGANDA at a cost of almost $500,000 annually to the RI taxpayer. This bill does fails to ensure that the taxpayer-funded pamphlets would present medically accurate, non-biased, non-coercive, non-judgmental content.
• The medical community, including the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists and the Rhode Island Medical Society, is strongly opposed to procedure specific waiting periods.
• There is already an informed consent law in Rhode Island for abortion (Ch. 23-4.7), which goes above and beyond the informed consent for any other procedure in the state.

The struggle for equal marriage rights is a feminist issue. Women will not achieve full equality until every woman can pursue her dreams free from discrimination. NOW made its support for same-sex marriage official in 1995, saying that the choice of marriage is a fundamental constitutional right under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment that should not be denied because of a person’s sexual orientation. Join RI NOW and add your voice to the fight for equality. RI NOW works in coalition with other fabulous organizations for fairness and justice.

Download and distribute this equal marriage flyer.

Don’t miss RI PRIDE celebration on Saturday, June 18th. Join in the festivities and the fantastic night-parade. Jump in line and show your support. Visit RI PRIDE for a listing of the activities leading up to Pride celebration.

RI NOW members were among the many who filled the Statehouse for a rally to support Equal Marriage on April 12, 2005.

Read the text of the 2005 Equal Marriage bill here: http://www.marriageequalityri.org/forms/H5660.pdf

RI Senate Judiciary Committee, Bill S-217
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
38 testified, 28 supported, 10 opposed

RI House Judiciary Committee, Bill H-5660
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
65 testified, 50 supported, 15 opposed

Marriage Equality RI is a grassroots movement that seeks legal recognition of same-sex couples through civil marriage in Rhode Island. Visit their website for more information on how to get involved.

The National Organization for Women proudly salutes the introduction of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005. Introduced in the House on Thursday, May 26, this is the first legislation to explicitly include transgender individuals in civil rights law. The bill is designed to help protect against bias crimes based on gender identity, sexual orientation, gender and disability and also adds gender and gender identity to the Hate Crimes Statistics Act. To read more…..

http://www.now.org/press/05-05/05-25-b.html