We Should Defund Colleges and Universities That Distribute Abortion Drugs

Opinion   |   Rep. Chip Roy, Sen. Steve Daines & Kristan Hawkin   |   Jul 23, 2021   |   12:23PM   |   Washington, DC

Across America, pro-abortion activists are currently working around the clock to increase access to abortion in any way they can — whether cheering on do-it-yourself chemical abortions in the New York Times opinion section, or tossing out common-sense safety procedures such as risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS). The abortion movement’s number one goal has become to ensure universal access to dangerous forms of abortion, including chemical. Now, they are particularly interested in targeting vulnerable women on college campuses.

In California, abortion activists recently helped pass a law mandating every public college and university to make abortion pills available to pregnant female students, without exception. This move to dramatically expand abortion on college campuses essentially converts every student health center into another Planned Parenthood and turns dorm rooms into potential abortion clinics.

The number of chemical abortions has skyrocketed in the past 20 years. In 2001, chemical abortions accounted for just 6% of all abortion procedures. In 2017, 39% of all abortions were conducted using the chemical abortion pill, also known as mifepristone. This lethal drug is followed 48 hours later by misoprostol to complete the abortion and fully expel the child from the womb.

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These abortions are exceptionally dangerous, with 7% of women who undergo chemical abortions requiring surgery. This is not to mention the emotional and psychological damage that can affect these women — particularly once they discover that the process is still reversible within 72 hours. More than 2,000 women have in fact made the decision to reverse this process, saving their child. Chemical abortions endanger the life of the mother, while ending the life of their innocent child. The pro-abortion movement may be fine with lying to women and telling them that at-home DIY abortions are no more dangerous than taking ibuprofen; the science, however says otherwise, and women deserve the truth.

To fight the radical pro-abortion movement on its latest campaign, we are putting forward and supporting the Protecting Life on College Campus Act of 2021. Under this common-sense legislation, institutions of higher education would be ineligible to receive federal funding until they made it unequivocally clear to the secretaries of education and HHS that they are not providing chemical abortion pills to students. This would protect vulnerable college women from the predatory abortion industry and shield the conscience of every American taxpayer.

The decision to procure an abortion can irreparably harm a woman for the rest of her life and ends the life of an innocent child. Every mom deserves a loving, caring community that provides necessary emotional and physical support each step of the way. No mom should be told that her only path to success is to sacrifice her own child. Taxpayers should know that their hard-earned money is not going to institutions of higher education that don’t value the health and safety of their students, as well as the right to life. And, above all, every American child deserves a shot at the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness promised in our Declaration of Independence, regardless of his or her circumstances or stage of development.

LifeNews Note: Kristan Hawkins is president of Students for Life of America, with more than 1,225 chapters on college and high school  campuses in all 50 states. Follow her @KristanHawkins or subscribe to her podcast, “Explicitly Pro-Life.”