Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island PAC Endorses Joe Shekarchi

Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island Political Action Committee (PPV!RI PAC) has endorsed K. Joseph Shekarchi for re-election to RI House District 23 (Warwick) in its first round of candidate endorsements for the 2022 General Assembly elections.

“This endorsement is particularly meaningful to me. Women should have the right to make their own health care decisions, which is why I supported passing the Reproductive Privacy Act in Rhode Island a few years ago,” said Speaker Shekarchi.

Shekarchi was endorsed due to his efforts to defend reproductive rights and work to expand access to sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion, for all Rhode Islanders. In 2019 as House Majority Leader, Shekarchi supported the codification of Roe v. Wade into Rhode Island law with the passage of the Reproductive Privacy Act.

Speaker Shekarchi has been a longtime advocate for women’s issues: in 2021, he championed the passage of landmark pay equity legislation​. The legislation comprehensively addresses wage discrimination based on gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation. Additionally, Shekarchi has sponsored a law requiring health insurers to cover all costs related to mastectomies without copays or deductibles. Shekarchi also supported legislation to strengthen protections for victims of domestic violence, ensure that menstrual hygiene products are available in all public schools as well as correctional institutions free of cost, exempt breast pumps and breastfeeding supplies from state sales tax, provide health care coverage for laparoscopic removal of uterine fibroids, and to ban health insurers from using gender rating, a discriminatory practice of charging women and men different premiums for individual insurance.

“Across the country, anti-abortion politicians, with the help of the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal judges hostile to our freedoms, have robbed people of the right to control their bodies and make their own personal health decisions by passing increasingly radical and extreme abortion bans,” said Amanda Skinner, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island and a member of the Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island PAC. “The fight for reproductive freedom now rests with the states – we need to elect champions in Rhode Island who will defend our rights. Planned Parenthood patients are counting on us.”

Three weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade. The right to abortion is protected in Rhode Island state law thanks to the historic passage of the Reproductive Privacy Act of 2019, an achievement made possible in large part by a record number of PPV!RI PAC-endorsed candidates elected to the General Assembly. This year, in deciding to endorse candidates for the 2022 elections, PPV!RI PAC looked at many factors: the current political landscape in a post-Roe America, candidates’ records on the issues, and legislative priorities including finally passing the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act (EACA).

Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island and its associated PAC works to defend reproductive rights and ensure equitable access to sexual and reproductive health care for Rhode Islanders who rely on Planned Parenthood. This requires backing incumbents in the General Assembly who have led the fight for reproductive freedom in our state – and demanding those in leadership positions won’t block crucial bills from getting called for a vote. PPV!RI PAC is also committed to supporting challengers taking on anti-abortion politicians who are determined to unravel the progress we’ve made.

According to Skinner, “Rhode Islanders deserve elected officials who will take bold, unapologetic action to protect and expand access to abortion. The status quo is no longer good enough — we need these champions in the General Assembly to pass policies, like the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act, to help ensure everyone can exercise the fundamental right to control their own body and determine their own future.”

Reproductive health and rights are overwhelmingly winning issues, and voters will remember this Supreme Court decision when they cast their ballots this election. Nationally, nearly 80% of Americans want abortion to remain legal. Last election, voters sent a record-breaking number of champions for reproductive freedom to the General Assembly: 49 PPV!RI PAC-endorsed candidates won their elections in 2020. The outcome of the 2020 General Assembly election sent an undeniable message — the people of Rhode Island demand leaders who will protect and expand access to sexual and reproductive health care and defend abortion rights.