In the year since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, emboldened anti-abortion extremists in statehouses and courtrooms have worked tirelessly to restrict access. Fortunately, reproductive justice advocates are not sitting idly by. In states where abortion remains legal and fiercely protected, we are going further by doubling down on our efforts to expand abortion access and make it more equitable wherever we can.

Here in Rhode Island, we got it done. Our little state has not only codified the right to an abortion, we also recently passed a law allowing Medicaid recipients and state employees to use their insurance to get abortions. The Equality in Abortion Coverage Act (EACA) expands coverage to about 32,000 Rhode Islanders, including health professionals, college professors, students, and their families—not to mention the 25 percent of residents covered by Medicaid, about 77,000 of whom are people of childbearing age. Before our state legislature passed the EACA, none of these people had health insurance that provided abortion coverage. We brought down a critical barrier for low-income Rhode Islanders and made sure people can afford their abortions.

While we may be the smallest state in the country, we’ve scored some of the biggest wins in this fight—and our work can serve as a roadmap for other states. Now more than ever, it is critical to continue expanding equitable access for all and ensure abortion is safe, legal, and available to all who want it.

Winning this latest fight to expand access was not easy. Even in a state where abortion was fully protected in 2019, we had to organize, activate, and educate our community about the stakes of this bill. Despite our reputation as a liberal New England stronghold, certain communities in our state are sometimes at odds with the goals of our movement. Navigating those concerns was critical in securing the support to make these laws possible.

It took a full-court press from abortion supporters running phone banks, community events, lobby days, briefings, and ARTivist actions. We provided projections and helped organize hearings on the issue to educate our neighbors and community members. We partnered with like-minded organizations like the Rhode Island American College of Physicians, Women and Infants Hospital, and Rhode Island Medical Society to write letters to our leaders urging them to support expanding abortion coverage.

We were not certain our leaders would follow through, and ultimately we believe this concerted effort to hold an open dialogue was critical in achieving this win. We were able to reinforce that abortion is a Rhode Island value, and through our collective power, elected and supported lawmakers who are committed to enshrining abortion protections into law.

While we applaud the lawmakers who made this possible, we know there are still plenty of anti-abortion politicians in Rhode Island—and across the country—who want to block folks from accessing the reproductive care they deserve. These attacks disproportionately impact Black communities, young people, low-income families and individuals, and those living in rural areas.

On a statewide level, we want our lawmakers to go deeper in their commitment to increasing health equity, especially reproductive health, for the Rhode Island community. There is still work to be done to protect bodily autonomy for Rhode Islanders, particularly trans and nonbinary Rhode Islanders and people of color.

We also must be sure that people who want an abortion do not have to navigate onerous barriers to access. Nationally, our movement has more to do as well. We cannot disregard states in the South or Midwest as being hopeless in the fight against anti-abortion politicians. We know that coastal elitism has no place in the reproductive justice movement. This fight won’t be over until we see bold, federal protections that make abortion access available and compassionate for every single person in the country.

Having quality abortion care strengthens our communities. As anti-abortion extremists seize on the fall of Roe to make abortion inaccessible, we must show everyone that there is a better way. We can show them a community that loves and supports all its residents, that provides compassionate care, and gives them the freedom to make their own choices about their reproductive health without judgment. We can show them the power of community organizing and activists in making necessary changes—and give strength to our allies in this fight by showing them a way forward. We can galvanize our movement to keep fighting and secure victories wherever they are possible.

We believe Rhode Island is that example.