Survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Rhode Island have waited decades for a meaningful path to justice. A bill that would finally give them that path is sitting before the state senate — and some lawmakers are trying to avoid voting on it by asking the Rhode Island Supreme Court for an advisory opinion first.

Rhode Island's own Attorney General Peter Neronha has been clear: "Put this to a vote."

An advisory opinion is not a neutral procedural step. It is a delay tactic. It lets senators avoid going on record, avoid angering powerful institutions, and run out the clock until the legislative session ends without a vote ever being taken. The court has no deadline. The session does. And while lawmakers wait, survivors — many now in their 50s, 60s, and 70s — keep waiting too.

Delay is not neutral. Delay is a decision. And it is exactly what the institutions that enabled abuse have wanted all along.

Every senator should have to answer one question in public: do you believe survivors deserve access to justice? We're calling on Rhode Island senators to stop hiding behind process and put this bill to a vote now.