The bill requiring California’s public colleges and universities to commit abortion on campus has passed the state assembly, bringing it one step closer to becoming state law. Currently, none of the 34 University of California or California State University campuses distribute abortion pills to their students. If the bill, which now has to return to the Senate for final approval, passes, all campuses will be forced to offer abortions by the year 2022.
Right now, abortion-minded students are referred from campus health centers to area abortionists, like Planned Parenthood. Private donors have pledged to spend over $20 million to fund the on-campus program, but that hasn’t convinced everyone. “Currently our CSU health centers offer basic health services, however, the administration of medications still requires a level of expertise that our health center staff may not have,” CSU spokeswoman Toni Molle said, adding that the proposed bill would “impose severe costs for liability insurance, safety improvements, medical training and round-the-clock phone support for medical emergencies.”
READ: Pushing abortion on California college students is institutionalized misogyny
The bill’s sponsors claim that every month, between 10 and 17 women seek out abortion at every University of California campus, and between nine and 15 at CSU. The bill would only make it easier for these women to obtain the pills needed for medication abortions, but would add no support or resources for students who choose to keep their babies or are already parenting. And while the bill’s sponsor, Democrat Sen. Connie Levya, claims it would provide better access to abortion, the reality is there isn’t currently a shortage — Californians for Life found that the average distance from a California college campus to an abortion facility is less than six miles.
And while abortion advocates claim that medication abortion, or RU-486, is perfectly safe, the reality is quite different. Former abortionist and OB/GYN Dr. Anthony Levatino explained the process of a medication abortion, as well as the potential side effects: extremely heavy bleeding, painful and debilitating menstrual cramps, and nausea. Women have even died from taking RU-486, most often from infection or hemorrhaging, a risk that rises even higher if a woman has an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy or is further along in her pregnancy than she thought.
Live Action founder and president Lila Rose slammed the bill in an op-ed for the Washington Examiner:
This bill… sends a demeaning message to female students that the only assistance their universities are willing to offer them if they become pregnant is abortion. As a former California public university student and current California native, I have been inside these university health clinics. They continue to promote abortion as the best option for pregnant students. The same legislature that is pushing to make abortions readily available has not even tried to put the same effort into pregnancy, parenting, and adoption support programs to help these women keep their babies. SB 320 does nothing for pregnant students who want to keep their babies and need help to do so.
True empowerment would include options and support for women, not all of these lies about how easy and safe abortion is; not this encouragement to take a life for convenience’s sake. SB 320, which has already passed the state Senate and is now moving through the Assembly, should be stopped.
