The Value of Promoting Reproductive Health on College Campuses

Last year, as conservative states moved to restrict abortion access, California took an opposing track: By 2023, the state will require all public colleges and universities to provide students with abortion medication upon request.

California is the first state to require campus health centers to offer medical abortion, a two-pill process legally approved to terminate pregancy within the first 10 weeks. By targeting college campuses, the state legislature acknowledges the major impact of reproductive health services on female college students.

More than half of women who have an abortion are in their 20s. Two studies conducted by a reproductive health research group found that hundreds of University of California and California State University students seek medical abortion each month.

At some U.S. colleges, abortion services are included in student health insurance. At others, including many historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which often have religious foundations, both stigma and state law can limit vulnerable students’ options.

While the debate between anti-abortion and abortion-rights activists rages on, the abortion rate hit a historic low in 2017.

A lack of childcare can keep women from making it to class, completing assignments on time, and generally succeeding academically. While Title IX protects pregnant and parenting students from discrimination, it does not provide for their extra needs.

For female college students, pregnancy can jeopardize their future. Studies indicate that many women who have had abortions did so for the sake of continuing their education. The expansion of reproductive health access on college campuses promises to support women’s education and, by extension, uphold their Title IX civil rights.

History has shown that legal access to contraception and abortion leads to improved educational and economic outcomes for women. A 2007 study estimated that by 2000, more than 250,000 women over the age of 30 had been able to earn a bachelor’s degree as a result of access to contraception.

Recent federal regulations threaten to cut funding to family-planning clinics used by many low-income women — such as Planned Parenthood — if they provide patients with abortion referrals. The politics of reproductive health means well-off students are more likely to have access to contraception and abortion, a major point of inequity in women’s healthcare.

When college campuses withhold reproductive resources, higher-income students can seek them elsewhere. But women from marginalized communities may lack the guidance or means to do the same. This disparate access to reproductive healthcare bolsters existing inequities by often preventing low-income women facing unwanted pregnancy from achieving their educational goals.

Not all female students can access abortion services off campus or afford medical bills. In some cases, outside abortion providers may not accept student or private insurance. Without a safe option, some women take a harrowing risk. The World Health Organization estimates that roughly 5-13% of maternal deaths each year can be attributed to unsafe abortion.

Community colleges, a primary path to higher education for many low-income students, witness a higher rate of unintended pregnancies than postsecondary institutions as a whole. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 1 in 10 female community college students drops out due to unplanned pregnancy.

Reproductive justice is an important subject on campus and in college curricula. The social, cultural, and political contexts of reproduction is a central focus in fields like sociology, gender studies, and law. There is also a dedicated certificate program — the first of its kind in the U.S. — called the Five College Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice Program.

On-campus offerings equip students to understand, use, and advance their reproductive rights. Some colleges, including those in the Five College Consortium (Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst), offer a rich array of reproductive health-centered courses and campus events.

Other schools, however, have been slower to respond to the demand for reproductive health education and support on campus. Although women of color introduced the concept of reproductive justice, colleges that predominantly serve students of color are the furthest behind in terms of bringing reproductive justice to classes and campus clinics.

Some HBCUs are reproductive health deserts, failing to provide students with the services and care they need. This reproductive justice gap at HBCUs and other colleges that serve students of color further entrenches racial disparities in both education access and graduation rates.

When colleges promote reproductive justice, they promote educational equity. Comprehensive sexual health education and resources not only help students avoid unintended pregnancies, but also greatly increase their chances of reaching graduation.