Rhode Island Must Lead in Protecting Fertility Care and Reproductive Health

Rhode Island Must Lead in Protecting Fertility Care and Reproductive Health

In the wake of the Dobbs decision, attacks on reproductive health care across the country have been relentless and continue to remove or threaten access to contraception, fertility care, and abortion for Americans and their families from all walks of life.

 

Last month, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law ostensibly aimed at expanding infertility treatment that in reality seeks to replace effective, science-based healthcare with recommendations that reduce access to IVF, blame women for infertility, and exclude LGBTQ+ people from family building. The law was promoted by the Heritage Foundation, the same organization that brought us Project 2025, the blueprint for conservative extremism that has shaped the new Trump administration, and which has long opposed IVF as part of its war on reproductive autonomy. Rather than expanding access to care, the law is a shameful attempt to control who is and is not allowed to build a family and how they can do so. 

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Such laws dovetail with their efforts to cut down vital protections for LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender Americans. The Trump administration is building on a coordinated campaign to roll back decades of progress in reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ equality. For too long, extremist groups and politicians have sought to ban access to contraception, criminalize fertility health care, and prevent LGBTQ+ people from marrying or forming families. The full support of the federal government has greatly accelerated the implementation of this agenda to control not just whether we can become parents, but how and when we do so. The urgency to not only protect but expand access to these essential services at the state level has never been greater. 

 

Over the past six years alone, Rhode Island has taken significant steps to safeguard LGBTQ+ families and expand reproductive health care access. The passage of the Reproductive Privacy Act and the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act ensured that abortion care is both legally protected and more accessible. Last year, Rhode Island further strengthened these protections with the Health Care Provider Shield Act, safeguarding local doctors who provide reproductive or gender-affirming health care from hostile laws in other states. Rhode Island also enacted the Rhode Island Uniform Parentage Act, which ensures that all families, including LGBTQ+ families, are equally protected under the law no matter how they are formed. Our state has consistently demonstrated its commitment to equality and bodily autonomy and yet, in the current political environment, our work is far from over. 

 

Rhode Island has mandated coverage for diagnosis and treatment of infertility for any private insurer that covers pregnancy care since 1991. However, this mandate excludes LGBTQ+ couples and individuals based on the definitions used for infertility. Our state has the obligation to continue to protect and enhance the rights and freedoms we have fought so hard to secure. 

 

This legislative session, several bills were introduced that will expand fertility health care coverage in private insurance (H5629/S691) and public insurance (H5771) to align state law with the medical standard of care, ensuring that all families—including LGBTQ+ individuals and single parents—have the support they need to build their families. Now is the time to modernize Rhode Island’s fertility health care law to align with the medical standard of care. The ability to access family-building health care, including IVF, is essential for so many people. Without legislative action, barriers to family building will persist, disproportionately affecting those who already face the greater obstacles to accessing care. 

 

Even in the face of relentless opposition from anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ forces, progress is still possible. The Rhode Island General Assembly must act with urgency and pass these bills. Now is the time to stand firm in the fight for reproductive freedom for all families. Together, we can ensure that every person who wants to build their family has the opportunity to realize their dream of parenthood, and shaping a future that upholds dignity, equality, and access to quality care for all. 

 

Authors:

Beth Cronin, MD, RI Section Chair, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 

Polly Crozier, Director of Family Advocacy at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders 

Gretchen Raffa, Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer, Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island