With Planned Parenthood pushing abortion on pregnant women and providing little in the way of pregnancy help and support, two pro-life organizations have come together to publish a new National Directory of Campus Resources.
The guide for pregnant and parenting students comes just in time to kick off the latest school year and the new directory, jointly sponsored by Feminists for Life of America and Students for Life of America, will provide links to essential resources, state by state, school by school.
“Our goal is to hasten the day when no woman feels forced to choose between her education and career plans and her child” says Serrin Foster, the president of Feminists for Life. “The inspiration for FFL’s new campus directory came from hearing story after story from women who couldn’t find the resources they needed. Finding the basics that support life—housing, childcare, maternity coverage and financial aid—shouldn’t be an ordeal, but it is. The result is that pregnant college-aged students resort to abortion or drop out of school and potentially face a lifetime of poverty. Neither is desirable. Women deserve better. Being pregnant, being a birthmother, or having a family shouldn’t be a barrier to an education.”
Foster says the directory is critical because, “According to the Guttmacher Institute, 44% of abortions are performed on college-age women.”
Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life of America, added, “When faced with an unintended or crisis pregnancy, many students feel forced to choose between continuing their education or raising their child. Too often, college campuses do not provide the necessary resources or environment that support pregnant and parenting students.”
With the National Directory of Campus Resources, Foster says pregnant and parenting students will know that pregnancy doesn’t have to terminate an education–that resources exist to support women and families; pregnant and parenting students will find help now to stay in school–in some cases by transferring to a more parent-friendly campus; and colleges and universities that provide the best resources for students can be highlighted.
The directory is in progress and the compilations for Minnesota, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Iowa have been completed, while other states are seeing the compilation of the directory now — with the help of those who need the resources the most, college students.
“Feminists for Life is prepared to highlight schools that are most supportive of pregnant and parenting students,” Foster said. “We are very pleased to support pro-life student groups who advocate pro-woman solutions, and delighted that Students for Life will once again be a key contributor to this project.”
Students for Life has launched a companion project called the Pregnant on Campus Initiative, which it says ” aims to address this issue by helping campus pro-life groups to create effective and lasting change on their campus.”
“We encourage and challenge pro-life groups to address this issue on their campus by engaging in service activities geared to providing necessary resources to pregnant and parenting students,” Hawkins says. “Whether the project involves creating a campus support group or installing diaper decks in bathrooms, establishing an Assistance Fund for pregnant and parenting students, or securing affordable housing on campus, our goal is to increase the amount of pregnancy-friendly resources on college campuses in order to eliminate the pressure to discontinue school from pregnant and parenting students.”
The directory is an outgrowth of the Pregnancy Resource Forums Feminists for Life holds at campuses — with the first one coming at Georgetown in 1998. The resources the college now provides to support pregnant women, parents and birthmothers has significantly increased since then.
See the directory at https://feministsforlife.org/campusresources and https://www.pregnantoncampus.com
