California passes law requiring all colleges to offer free abortion pills to students up to 10 weeks into pregnancy
Lawmakers in California passed a bill on Friday which would require all state colleges to provide abortion pills to students if the legislation is signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. Over two million college-age women in America get pregnant every year, which disrupts their academic and work lives, whether they decided to terminate their pregnancy or carry to term.
Medical abortions, which include a pair of pills, however, allow women to terminate their pregnancy without having to undergo an in-patient procedure that may be expensive, require travel and recovery time.
If the law is signed, California will become the first state in the country to mandate college clinics to carry pregnancy termination drugs, especially at a time when multiple states across the nation are tightening restrictions on abortions, according to CNN.
The bill states that there are more than 400,000 female students in the network of University of California (UC) schools, and less than one in 10 of those students who have children end up completing college, according to the advocacy group Pregnant On Campus Initiative. The group states that a college education doesn't just set women up for higher income, but those women with degrees also tend to live longer, tend to exercise more, and are less likely to indulge in nicotine-related habits.
However, if a woman becomes pregnant while in school, she is faced with a series of challenges while struggling to decide the termination of her pregnancy. According to Planned Parenthood, abortions often tend to be expensive, costing between $350 and $950 in the first trimester, and more for a second-trimester termination. Those who get the procedure done have to take time off from school and work, and a couple more days to recover. The location of an abortion clinic also becomes a major factor in the decision to terminate as the clinics are generally far away from their home. Reports state that six US states have just one abortion clinic.
The author of the California bill, Senator Connie Leyva, said: "In a time when states across our country are rolling back women's health care and access to abortion, California continues to lead the nation to protect every individual's right to choose. SB 24 reaffirms the right of every college student to access abortion."
Governor Newsom had reportedly given his public support to the previous draft of the bill and if he signs SB 24, all public universities in California will be required to start carrying medical abortion pills from January 1, 2023. Students will be able to access a combination pill of mifepristone and misoprostol from their campus health clinics up to 10 weeks of their pregnancy.