Pro-abortion legislators in Rhode Island are pushing a bill that would strengthen abortion laws and erode existing laws supported and introduced by pro-lifers.

Proponents of the bill claim it must pass to protect the state in the event Roe v Wade is overturned in the U.S. Supreme Court, a landmark reversal highly unlikely any time soon.

Barth Bracy of Rhode Island Right to Life says the bill would overturn all pro-life protections passed in the state since the 1973 decision.

"It would prohibit the state from banning any particular method of abortion," he says. "So, for example partial-birth abortions or late-term dismemberment abortions, the state would not be able to ban those. It would prohibit state and local agencies from restricting the manner in which abortions are provided."

Rhode Island law limits abortions to 24 weeks, "and this bill would strike that down," Bracy tells OneNewsNow.

Pro-life activists also claim the new law would relax clinic regulations and open the door for taxpayer-paid abortions in the state.