UC and CSU will provide abortion pill access to students starting in January, but there may be new legal questions to grapple with after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“These legal questions are still being explored,” said Amy Moy, spokesperson for Essential Access Health. “The environment is changing rapidly, and the main goal is to boost and bolster the abortion care capacity.”
Only one school, UC Berkeley — where students first demanded access to abortion medication, prompting the law — has already started providing the pills. Before the law, some students had to drive more than 30 minutes away and pay $600 to $800 for a medication abortion, Leyva said. To some students that cost for medication could mean the difference between succeeding or dropping out of school.
Wynette Sills, director of Californians For Life, which also opposed the bill, said she also worries about healthcare providers at college campuses who are being thrust into providing abortion medication to students.