Rep. Lima asks Attorney General to halt Medicaid abortion coverage
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Rep. Charlene Lima drafted an email letter to Attorney General Peter Neronha asking him to file proceedings to halt a new law that would fund abortions for Medicaid and public employee insurance plans.
The email comes as a reaction to the passage of the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act on Thursday.
“The makers of our R.I. Constitution had the foresight to put into our founding document protections from radical extremists who would seek to use taxpayer dollars to implement or fund abortion,” Lima said. “The leaders of the General Assembly clearly did not have that same common sense or foresight. They chose instead to ignore the Constitution and our taxpayers by implementing a politically radical progressive agenda.”
The EACA eliminates the policy that withholds health coverage for abortion in the state Medicaid program and halts the denial of coverage for abortion in the health plan used by state employees.
Gov. Dan McKee signed the bill into law after it was passed in the Senate and House. McKee put aside funding for the coverage in his administrations budget.
“As the chief legal protector of the people, Attorney General Neronha must immediately implement legal proceedings to overturn this unconstitutional power grab by the progressive left and do his job as our elected attorney general,” Lima concludes her message.
While opponents of the bill like Lima say they they don’t want their money going towards something they do not support, supporters of the bill argue that abortion is healthcare and should be covered as such.
