Insurance Prohibition for Abortion

Rhode Island has an unconstitutional and unenforceable law which provides that no health insurance contract, plan, or policy delivered or issued for delivery in the state may provide coverage for abortion unless the procedure is necessary to preserve the woman's life or the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. Coverage for abortion may be obtained only through an optional rider for which an additional premium must be paid. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 27-18-28 (Enacted 1983).

Rhode Island has a partially unconstitutional and unenforceable law which provides that the state or any city or town must not include coverage for abortion in any employees' health insurance contract, plan, or policy unless the procedure is necessary to preserve the woman's life or the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 36-12-2.1 (Enacted 1981).

A court has permanently enjoined §27-18-28 as unconstitutional and held that §36-12-2.1 is unconstitutional and unenforceable as applied to municipal employees. Nat'l Educ. Ass'n of R.I. v. Garrahy, 598 F. Supp. 1374 (D.R.I. 1984), aff'd, 779 F.2d 790 (1st Cir. 1986).