Planned Parenthood-affiliated college group pushes for abortion pill at UMass

A Massachusetts pro-abortion college student group is seeking to increase abortion access on campus and has announced that it has received a grant from Planned Parenthood to do exactly that. UMass Students for Reproductive Justice (USRJ), formerly called VOX, describes themselves as “a chapter of an international organization allied with Planned Parenthood,” and “affiliate group of Planned Parenthood.” USRJ posted the announcement on its Facebook page in April. It reads in part:

UMass Students for Reproductive Justice got a grant from Planned Parenthood Generation Action to increase abortion access on our college campus~ Woohoo!

We are looking for four people to join the Campus Campaign Leadership Cohort with us. Two of these people will be Student Data Managers, who will be trained in the Voter Activation Network (VAN) program…

The people on the Leadership Cohort would mold the goals and map the entire campaign related to abortion access…

The Daily Collegian also reported the news, writing, “UMass Students for Reproductive Justice has taken steps toward making more inclusive emergency contraception available on campus and recently announced a grant received from Planned Parenthood to get the abortion pill on campus. Getting this pill on campus could remove the constraints that Plan B has on user eligibility.”

The student paper noted, “[T]he closest Planned Parenthood to the University of Massachusetts is located in Springfield, about a 40-minute drive from campus, so using their services to your advantage may be rather difficult.”

The abortion-inducing regimen is made up of two pills — mifepristone and misoprostol. The process is explained in the video below by former abortionist, Dr. Anthony Levatino:

1st Trimester Medical Abortion: Abortion Pills

Last year, the Planned Parenthood affiliated student group met to write their “demands to bring… the abortion pill to campus.”

“We wouldn’t be the first college to petition for it,” Josie Pinto, president of USRJ and the Public Affairs Associate for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (according to her Facebook page,)  told The Collegian in March of 2017.

Pinto is referring to SB320, a law awaiting the governor’s signature in California (opposed by pro-life students) that will require public colleges to provide the abortion pill to students on campus. The move was funded by big abortion groups like  Tara Health Foundation and The Women’s Foundation of California, which committed $20 million to allegedly ensure no cost to the state, despite the fact that taxpayers already spend millions to fund abortions in California.

Pro-lifers are petitioning Governor Jerry Brown not to sign the bill.

Abortion on College Campuses - California SB 320

As Live Action News previously documented, part of Tara Health’s strategy is the push for dangerous “home use” abortions.

“When we show up for Planned Parenthood, we’re showing up for the rights of students on our campus,” Pinto wrote in 2017. “We’re actively working with University Health Services and the Women’s Health Clinic to increase access to reproductive health services…. We want to address some of the barriers that pregnant students may be facing in accessing abortions…”

Activists like USRJ claim abortion is safe, but FDA reports show almost a dozen women have died after taking the poisonous regimen. In addition, at least a thousand women or girls have been hospitalized.

The real numbers may be difficult to track since, as Live Action News has previously documented, nearly half of all states do not require complications be reported. In addition, women suffering complications may present to the emergency room claiming they are suffering a miscarriage, without telling the truth about what has really happened.

The move to provide medication abortion on campus may be sweeping across the nation, according to UC Student Association President Caroline Siegel-Singh, who told the San Diego Union Tribune, “Students are now working side by side with reproductive justice organizations, funders who’ve come forward to cover the costs of implementation, other supporters, and lawmaker champions to make the abortion pill available in student health centers.”

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America called the move “tragic” for women and death for many preborn infants. She told Live Action News, “[T]he lives of women at the University of Massachusetts will be put at risk by distributing deadly abortion drugs.”

Hawkins also called out abortion corporation Planned Parenthood, adding, “What isn’t a surprise is that the nation’s number one abortion vendor, Planned Parenthood, wants to be sure that lives are ended at UMass. But you have to wonder, who will be there in the middle of the night when women are suffering, bleeding and in danger? I hope school officials will step in to protect the students in their care.”

Hawkins warned that the push for deadly medication abortion on campus is just beginning.

Editor’s Note: FDA has received reports of serious adverse events in women who took mifepristone. As of June 30, 2021, there were reports of 26 deaths of women associated with mifepristone since the product was approved in September 2000, including two cases of ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy located outside the womb, such as in the fallopian tubes) resulting in death; and several cases of severe systemic infection (also called sepsis), including some that were fatal. The adverse events cannot with certainty be causally attributed to mifepristone because of concurrent use of other drugs, other medical or surgical treatments, co-existing medical conditions, and information gaps about patient health status and clinical management of the patient. A summary report of adverse events that reflects data through June 30, 2021 is here.