California is poised to be the first state in the nation to require abortion-inducing medication be available on campus at each of its public universities.
Democrat State Senator Connie M. Leyva is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 320. The legislative digest explains that the bill “would require, on and after January 1, 2022, each public university student health center, as defined, to offer abortion by medication techniques, as specified.”
Additionally, the bill would require the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls to oversee the College Student Health Center Sexual and Reproductive Health Preparation Fund, which would be established and funded under the legislation. There is a stipulation that a certain amount of private money be raised in funding before the state creates a separate renewable appropriation.
Senator Leyva believes college students need easy access to medicated abortion so that they do not have to seek out a more “invasive surgical procedure.” “No woman makes this choice lightly,” she stated, “but when you need it, you need to have access.”
Even while this bill is considered in front of the California General Assembly, there are pro-lifers across the state working to protest the concept of access to on-demand, abortion-inducing medication. The California branch of Students for Life of America (SFLA) is publicizing the dangers that come with this specific kind of abortion.
“Abortion harms student success, both mentally and physically, and brings danger to campus,” stated Anna Arend, Northern California regional coordinator for SFLA.
Abortion via medication, which works by inducing an abortion, and is usually is given in two separate doses. Women generally stay in the clinic for the first dose, and then take the second on their own. As SFLA has argued, this would mean that women who receive such medication would have to face an induced miscarriage in a dorm room or shared bathroom facilities.
The bill is being supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, which blogged that, “It just makes sense that the abortion pill — safe, effective, and simple to provide — should be among the services offered [by campus health providers].”
SB320 is being presented as protection and provision for the women of California. A key tenet of the bill is, “Abortion care is a constitutional right and an integral part of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care.”
