San Jose State, as well as all other California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) campuses, will provide medication abortions beginning on Jan. 1.
This new pathway to abortion access is required by state law, Senate Bill 24 or The College Student Right to Access Act, which passed in 2019 and requires universities to have abortion pills available at all campus health centers no later than the start of 2023.
Amid California’s efforts to protect abortion rights after the June 24 Roe v. Wade overturn, it will be the first U.S. state to offer medication abortion at state campuses, according to a Wednesday CalMatters article.
Toni Molle, CSU strategic communications and public affairs director, said all 23 CSU campus health centers currently provide students access to comprehensive and preventative reproductive health services but the CSU system expects its health centers to be fully in compliance with new state law by its deadline.
Molle said CSU health center staff will only be trained for the medication abortion method and won’t offer any other abortion procedures.
Kenneth Mashinchi, SJSU senior director of strategic communications and media relations, said the university intends to ensure that students who are in need of a medication abortion are provided that care on campus with the same empathy and confidentiality afforded to every Student Wellness Center visitor.
“While logistics are still being developed, SJSU anticipates integrating this service into the regular healthcare services offered through the Student Wellness Center,” Mashinchi said in an email.
Alice Tsvinev, SJSU research and experimental psychology graduate student, said when she found out Wednesday the CSU would soon provide medication abortions, she was impressed and felt very thankful and proud to be an SJSU student.
“It's nice to see that within the state of California in general, there's a lot of respect and care towards women's health [amid] a lot of backlash to the current overturning of Roe v. Wade,” Tsvinev said in a phone call. “It's reassuring to a lot of the young students that are in school who really want to prioritize their education, who, you know, may want or need an abortion in the future. They now know that they do have a safe place within their community that they can do it.”
She said even though she was aware that Roe v. Wade would possibly be reversed, she was shocked and disappointed when it happened.
“Especially because within that time frame, I had recently gotten diagnosed with [Polycystic ovary syndrome] and so, you know, my situation with it was I have an increased risk of certain reproductive health issues,” Tsvinev said. “So for me, it was a little bit more shocking just taking everything in at once and realizing, ‘hey, I might be one of those people that needs a medical abortion in the future because of a certain situation’ or . . . someone I know might be in that situation.”
Up to 6,228 students could seek medication abortions on UC and CSU campuses each year once they’re available, according to a 2017 Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health research publication. Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health is a UC San Francisco research program.
Molle said Essential Access Health members are giving Zoom training sessions to UC and CSU campus abortion providers and health center personnel, in which they provide an overview of the new state law, how to administer a medication abortion and how to support student patients after they end their pregnancies.
Essential Access Health is a reproductive health advocacy and consulting group, according to its website.
Molle said as Senate Bill 24 is student focused, all CSU and UC health services will provide aftercare support and referrals for any students who may need care beyond the student health services’ capacities.
She added that any 17 year old CSU student could seek treatment at a student health center.
California minor consent law states that a minor may consent to medical care related to the prevention or treatment of pregnancy with the exception of sterilization, according to the CSU California minor consent laws webpage.
Regarding any student fees, Molle said the CSU doesn’t require or offer health insurance but most students are covered under their parent or guardian’s insurance, employer insurance or MediCal, though MediCal doesn’t cover medication abortion services.
She said students will pay for the medications and any specialty labs or imaging that may be required but the CSU health centers don’t bill insurance for students.
Molle said the estimated cost of the medication will be around $50 to $60.
Mashinchi said SJSU doesn’t anticipate an increase in student health fees to offer abortion by medication services.
Gracelyn Moore, SJSU graphics design junior, said she personally doesn’t think providing medication abortions on campus is a bad thing.
“I get my birth control through the school anyways and I mean, to me . . . what’s so different about prescribing another type of pill?” Moore said in a phone call. “I already pay 30 bucks a month to the school so that I can finish school without having to have a kid.”
She said it’s good the school will be providing an option for students who may need abortions.
Moore said for her, it’s difficult to use Planned Parenthood because she has private insurance, so it’s nice to know that if anything happens, she can call the Student Wellness Center on campus and obtain the medication at a reasonable price.
She added she hopes the Student Wellness Center will assist students who may need time off of school after undergoing an abortion.
Reproductive health experts and advocates told CalMatters in a Wednesday article that by requiring medication abortions on college campuses, appointments at clinics throughout California will likely lessen, permitting space for those in need of an abortion who travel from states where abortion is now or will be illegal or restricted.
“Because there is going to be this increase in people coming to California, all of the clinics are going to have, you know, additional demand and kind of struggle with capacity,” said Cathren Cohen, a reproductive rights expert at the UCLA Center on Reproductive Health, Law and Policy, in the Wednesday CalMatters article. “While it’s not necessarily going to help all the people coming from out of state, it’s just generally going to increase the number of abortion providers.”
State Sen. Connie Leyva, author of Senate Bill 24, or The College Student Right to Access Act, told CalMatters in the same article that the state law’s significance couldn’t have been anticipated in 2019.
“Little did we know how important this bill would be and this law would be based on the Supreme Court’s decision,” Levya was quoted in the article.
Molle said CSU universities will use various communication channels including campus portals, websites, social media, newsletters and other forms of outreach to inform the CSU community of their services.
Tsvinev said while everyone has their own opinions of what they would do with their bodies, the reality of abortion is similar to any other medical situation. She said while abortion is understandabely politicalized, everyone should at least try to be mindful.
“Keep your own values at heart, keep your own morals at heart,” she said. “That's all fine. We're all very different and that's okay. But at the end of the day, like, we have to be able to respect each other's decisions because if it doesn't influence us directly, then we shouldn't really be allowed to comment on it.”
