PROVIDENCE, RI- Tonight immediately following its passage by the General Assembly, Governor Gina M. Raimondo, surrounded by legislators and women's health advocates, signed into law the historic Reproductive Privacy Act. Governor Raimondo also issued the following signing statement:
"I am transmitting to the Secretary of State, with my signature, 2019-H 5125 Substitute B/2, 'An Act Relating to Health and Safety - The Reproductive Privacy Act.'
"Today, I am pleased to sign that act into law. The legislation before me is the product of an important and vigorous debate and a great deal of public scrutiny. It codifies what has been the status quo under Roe v. Wade for nearly five decades. It protects a woman's access to reproductive health care here in Rhode Island at a time when that access is under threat at the federal level and in states across our country. And, it keeps the most personal and difficult decisions of a woman's life between her and her doctor - where they are today, and where they belong, regardless of continued assaults on the fundamental right to privacy.
"When this bill becomes law, women and their families across Rhode Island will be free from the fear that the reproductive health care they need today will be illegal tomorrow. We owe this certainty to every Rhode Island woman - and the bill before me today provides exactly that.
"I want to thank the thousands of Rhode Islanders who have engaged in this important debate in recent months. This issue is a difficult and complex one, and there are good and principled people on both sides of the debate. Thank you to the General Assembly for your hard work and action."