The average distance between a California public college and an abortion facility is less than 6 miles.
But abortion activists are claiming even that short distance is too big of a burden for students who want to abort their unborn babies.
Right now, state lawmakers are considering a bill that would force public colleges and universities to provide abortion drugs to students on campus free of charge.
“It’s necessary because it’s a constitutionally protected right, but just because it’s a constitutionally protected right does not mean you have access,” said state Sen. Connie Leyva, who sponsored the bill.
In a piece about the legislation, KQED prominently featured the story of a UC Riverside student who complained about the 6-mile trip (about an 8-minute drive) to abort her unborn baby.
According to the report:
Jessica Rosales recalls plunging into a downward spiral after discovering that her birth control had failed and she was pregnant. A financially unstable third-year student at UC Riverside, she immediately sought an abortion — something the campus student health clinic did not provide.
Instead she was referred to private medical facilities off campus. One wouldn’t accept her insurance; the other didn’t provide abortions. Her grades slipped, she said, and she frequently slept the days away to escape her circumstances. Eventually she traveled six miles to a Planned Parenthood clinic that performed the procedure. Ten weeks had passed.
“My situation could have been avoided if the student health center was there and provided medication abortion for students on campus,” Rosales said.
California Senate Bill 320 would require public universities and community colleges to provide abortions drugs up to 10 weeks of pregnancy at their student health centers. It also would require the taxpayer-funded schools to cover the cost of the abortions in their student health insurance plans. If passed, the pro-abortion mandate would go into effect in 2020.
Pro-abortion Democrats want to make it as easy as possible for women to abort their unborn babies, but Leyva’s bill does nothing to provide support for pregnant and parenting students who want to keep their babies. According to the report, most campus health centers do not provide prenatal care or childbirth services.
SUPPORT LIFENEWS! please help LifeNews.com with a donation!
Opponents of the legislation have expressed very strong concerns about the dangers of providing the abortion drugs on campus. Initially, the California public colleges and universities also opposed the bill because of safety concerns and liabilities. Their position now is neutral.
One concern is college health centers do not have the equipment to provide abortions. Ultrasounds are vitally important in determining an unborn baby’s gestational age and the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy, which can be deadly if not detected; but college health centers typically do not have the expensive machines.
Most college health centers also are not open in the evenings or on weekends, so they would not be able to treat complications. According to the FDA, complications from the abortion drugs include excessive bleeding, infection, incomplete abortion requiring surgery and death of the woman.
The pro-abortion legislation passed the state Senate in January, and now is moving through the Assembly.
