PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island’s house speaker has no plans to ask lawmakers to return for a special session on abortion rights, his spokesman said Friday.
When asked about the potential for a special session, Democratic House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello’s spokesman said the House has adjourned for 2018. The next session begins Jan. 1.
In neighboring Massachusetts, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill Friday that would repeal a series of old state laws, including an unenforced abortion ban with roots dating to 1845.
Massachusetts is the first state since President Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court to abolish from its books an abortion ban that predates the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, called on the state legislature to return to codify Roe v. Wade following the announcement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement. Abortion rights proponents fear a more conservative high court could undo abortion protections.
Before Kennedy’s announcement, Mattiello said the state didn’t need to codify Roe v. Wade. Spokesman Larry Berman didn’t say whether Mattiello still feels that way.
Democratic Rep. Edith Ajello, a longtime abortion rights advocate, has sponsored unsuccessful legislation that would strike several old state laws. One of those, passed shortly after the Roe decision, imposed prison sentences on those who provide aid or counsel “to procure a miscarriage” unless necessary to save a woman’s life.
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