To the editor:

In his letter to the editor in the Oct. 5 Barrington Times, Joe Merrill disparages District 67 Representative Jason Knight for being essentially a rubber stamp for “the House Speaker.” When I read the letter, I was gobsmacked. How could someone write something so thoroughly untethered from reality? That’s when I decided to respond. First I need to say how I got to know Rep Knight.

I have lived in Barrington for 37 years. For most of my adult life I have been an advocate and an activist. My greatest passion lies in the area of reproductive rights, for which I have engaged at both the national and local levels. In my work at the local level, I became familiar with Rep. Knight before he won his first election, in 2016. One of his signatures from the beginning was his commitment to accessible and affordable reproductive healthcare in the state of Rhode Island, regardless of what happened to Roe. And he has never budged.

In his 2018 campaign, he pledged not to support House leadership — and that includes “the House Speaker” — unless they allowed a vote on codifying Roe, and when the Speaker didn’t move that bill forward, Rep. Knight broke off from the mainstream Democratic caucus (reported in this newspaper https://www.eastbayri.com/warren/stories/local-legislator-aims-for-reform-at-statehouse,60316? "Local Legislator Aims for Reform at State House") and joined a group called the Reform Caucus. Their loud and principled efforts directly led to the passage of the Reproductive Privacy Act, a long-awaited law to protect access to abortion rights in Rhode Island (regardless of what happened on the national level.) Rep. Knight is principled: he is willing to call out leadership and challenge his colleagues when he believes they aren't upholding the principles of the Democratic Party.

Rep. Knight has been a co-sponsor of the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act each year. The EACA will ensure that abortion care is covered by state Medicaid and within the health insurance plans of Rhode Island state employees. This legislation is essential given that nearly one third of Rhode Islanders don't have insurance coverage for abortion services. And now that Roe has been overturned, accessible and affordable state coverage of abortion will be a top priority in the next legislative session for principled legislators such as Rep Knight. He will not let us down. 

Diane Barense

Barrington