California looks to expand abortion pill to community colleges

California began forcing state universities to carry the abortion pill in 2023. Now it has its sights set on community colleges as well.

Key Takeaways:

• California Assembly Bill 2540 would force community colleges to provide access to the abortion pill either on campus, via telehealth, or through community partners.

• Proponents say the bill would close the gap for community college students who are pregnant.

• Opponents say it is unattainable because the community college health centers are small and may be staffed by just one nurse.

The Details:

California's Assembly Bill 2540 seeks to force community colleges with student health centers to dispense the abortion pill beginning in 2029 on campus, via telehealth, or through community partners, if the legislature provides the funding.

It would also force them to advertise the availability of the drugs.

Those in support of the legislation say it will help students who have transportation, cost, privacy, or insurance concerns when abortion is not available on campus, losing sight of the fact that the vast majority of community college students don't live on campus (and most do not even offer campus housing). There are about 100 community college campuses in California (including around a dozen with on-campus housing), though not all have health centers.

The bill is step two in an attempt to ensure college students in the state have easy and even free access to abortions, which may pressure students to feel that abortion is necessary for them to finish school instead of continuing pregnancy and parenting.

In 2019, the state passed Senate Bill 24, which forced the University of California and California State University student health centers to carry the abortion pill beginning in 2023. This bill would also affect those schools by forcing them to advertise the abortion pill on campus, which they had not been previously required to do.

What We're Hearing:

“We are closing a critical gap by ensuring that community college students, one of the most diverse and economically vulnerable populations in our state, have the same access to care as their peers at four-year institutions,” Assemblymember Catherine Stefani told lawmakers during an Assembly Health Committee hearing in April.

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis, opponents of the bill say that community college health centers "vary widely in structure and capacity, with many operating under limited staffing models or contracting services out to community providers and hospitals."

In fact, the Health Services' Association of California Community Colleges does not support the bill. In a letter to legislators, it said community college health centers do not prescribe the abortion pill, nor do they have sufficient staffing or the infrastructure that would be required to dispense the drugs.

Michelle Barkley, president of the association and a nurse at a community college, said that the health centers on community college campuses act as an entry point for students to receive health care referrals; they are not full-service clinics.

“Some of our campuses have 5,000 students,” she said. “Their health center is run by a single registered nurse."

The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office estimates that implementing the bill could cost between $7 million and $27.9 million in one-time startup costs, plus between $5.6 million and $9.3 million a year to maintain.

Students currently pay about $23 per academic term to fund the health centers, and Stefani said the state (taxpayers) would pay for the abortion pill for students through Medi-Cal reimbursements.

Why It Matters:

Forcing taxpayers to fund abortions for students is unethical and coercive. No one should be forced to fund abortions, and students who are feeling pressured to finish school may be pushed into abortions they don't want because they are easily accessible and "free."

Those who do take the abortion pill could be left alone to suffer the medical complications largely associated with the drugs, such as hemorrhaging, incomplete abortion, and infection, as there is often no follow-up care when the abortion pill is distributed via telehealth.