The Rhode Island Choice Coalition exists to preserve, promote and protect all aspects of women's reproductive health care and reproductive justice through advocacy and legislative action statewide and nationally. The Rhode Island Choice Coalition includes the following organizations:

The Rhode Island General Assembly convenes later today for the first time in 2012 and most advocates and media outlets alike believe health reform will continue to be front and center. Go Local Providence cited health care reform as the #5 issue to watch in 2012.

Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island applauds RI Governor Lincoln Chafee for establishing a health care exchange and board on September 19 by Executive Order. When the General Assembly attempted to pass legislation in 2011 forming a health exchange, anti-choice members of the RI State Senate amended the bill to ban abortion completely from being covered in any plan within the exchange, effectively banning Rhode Islanders from purchasing such coverage even with their own funds. Fortunately the RI House of Representatives did not take up that language, and the legislation failed.

PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island has received a $5.2-million federal grant to continue its work developing a health-insurance exchange, a cornerstone of the federal health-care law.

If you're seeking some comic relief, and you're not Sen. Jon Kyl, look no further than Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

The comedians took after the Arizona Republican for his wild misstatement during last week's shutdown showdown of the percentage of Planned Parenthood's services that is abortion related.

With a potential government shutdown on the horizon, an extreme proposal to deny millions of women Pap tests, breast cancer screenings, and birth control is at the crux of whether a federal budget will be passed today.

PPSNE CEO Judy Tabar was on the front lines for Sen. Jon Kyl's infamous "not intended as a factual statement" statement. Judy was live on CNN when Kyl's unintentionally comic effort to distance himself from a wildly off-base assertion was received by the anchor. Watch the clip here:

Governor Chafee is calling on the R.I. House of Representatives to change the language on abortion in a bill on health-care reform that passed the Senate Tuesday.The bill would create a health benefits exchange, a marketplace where individuals and small insurances will shop for health insurance, under the federal health care law.

Today, the Rhode Island Senate passed Senate Bill 87 to establish a state healthcare exchange.  The bill includes restrictions to abortion coverage that go well beyond the parameters of the federal health reform legislation.