As of Jan. 1, Senate Bill No. 24 mandates medical abortions be available in all University of California and California State University campuses across California.
Kayla Lam, vice president of the Public Health Student Association at San Jose State, said the implementation of medical abortions on campus will have a positive impact on students.
“Imagine you're in a period of time and stress, essentially when you find out that you are pregnant you are in a time crunch,” Lam said. “By allowing students to be reassured that they have that plan at the Wellness Center, and it's known to be cheaper than a drug store or a department store, it is just a lot more accessible all around.”
Catherine Voss Plaxton, associate vice president of the Health, Wellness and Student Services, said the medical abortion pill is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the termination of pregnancies within the first ten weeks of gestation.
The bill represents an expansion of healthcare options for students who test positive for pregnancy at the Student Wellness Center.
“Now, as part of typical pregnancy-options counseling, students will have the option of receiving medication abortion from trusted SJSU healthcare providers,” Plaxton said.
Medical abortions consist of a pregnant patient taking two abortion pills called mifepristone and misoprostol, according to Planned Parenthood’s website.
SB 24 also requires the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls to allocate $200,000 worth of funding to each campus to help health centers provide the best care for medical abortions.
The California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls is an organization that works towards eliminating inequities in state laws, practices and conditions affecting women living in California according to its website.
Over 6,000 students may seek medical abortions or other related services each year, according to a Dec. 2017 study done by the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health from the University of California, San Francisco.
Lam said by allowing students to access medical abortions on campus, it can reduce the emotional stress and offer a safer environment for patients to get the treatment they need.
“It is a safe space for women or pregnant people in general,” Lam said. “Some women are victims of clinics that pressure you into keeping the baby, putting their own advice onto the poor patient who can be 16 or 17 or even younger. With the Wellness Center, there won’t be any biases, if you need the pill, you can just get the pill, no one is going to force you.”
Lam said there are also other support systems on campus that can also help an individual through this process.
“It should be recommended to students who are pregnant to go to Counseling and Psychological Services if they need it,” Lam said. “I have friends who have gone through an abortion and it made a traumatic mark on them because it is a painful experience and sometimes they went through the process alone.”
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, which protected the right to an abortion nationally, many women and other individuals are concerned about having their medical privacy threatened with illegal abortions in many states being investigated according to a June 29 CNN article.
Plaxton said that students' medical privacy is guaranteed.
“Only the staff directly involved in a student’s care will be aware of the services that student has received. Those staff and the whole Student Wellness Center operate under the same health-records privacy regulations and standards as off-campus healthcare clinics,” Plaxton said in an email.
Public health junior Jessica Ong said she believes medical abortions on campus are a beneficial service for students.
“For students it’s good for their college to provide them with another plan in case something does go wrong and give them the support they need,” Ong said.
Plaxton said in order to receive a medical abortion, the patient must go through a consultation to see if the abortion would be best fit for their situation, medical abortions are not common knowledge so it is best to do research beforehand.
“I don’t think that every girl out there just knows the process of an abortion, all the steps, the aftercare, how your body will feel after and during the procedure, so I feel like that information should be provided,” Ong said.
The cost of the medical abortion pill is $50, according to Plaxton. However, some students may not be able to afford this price.
“College students are known to be notoriously broke,” Ong said. “Some of them can fork over $50 or $60, just for something that might not necessarily be their fault, and all sorts of circumstances that go into needing an abortion pill. I feel like a cost shouldn’t hinder someone from getting what they need.”
