How did providing abortion pills become an expected part of the college experience?
Campus Reform reports:
Colorado bill would require colleges to provide abortion pills through campus health centersColorado could soon become the next state to require state colleges and universities to provide medication abortion pills to students.Under the proposed bill, HB26-1335, both private and public universities with on-campus student health centers would be required to keep abortion pills in stock.Universities that do not have on-campus centers must prescribe abortion pills to be filled at a local pharmacy. The bill does offer religious exemptions.Four states—California, Massachusetts, New York, and Illinois—already have similar laws in place, albeit limited to public universities.The cost for the abortion pills would fall directly on universities, costs which would likely be passed on to students. Medication abortion is expensive, and the fiscal note accompanying the bill estimates that pills “provided from an on-site pharmacy in a student health center” would range from $580 to $800.Unnamed institutions in the fiscal note estimate further costs associated with equipment and training.“Several institutions estimated a range of costs, mostly in the tens of thousands of dollars per year, for OB/GYN equipment, full-time or contract providers, after-hours support, and referral networks,” the note says.Student fees often fund campus health centers. A “Health and Counseling” fee is mandatory for most students at the University of Denver. Similar health fees are also mandatory for most students at Colorado State University, Colorado State University Pueblo, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and the University of Colorado Boulder.While some Colorado universities already refer for medication abortion, Campus Reform could find no evidence that any school currently offers abortion pills through campus health centers.Campus Reform contacted the University of Colorado, Boulder and the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colorado State University, and the Metropolitan State University of Denver for comment.
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