While Illinois’ 12 public universities are beginning to roll out plans to provide abortion pills on campus, as state law now requires, none offer prenatal care and only a few advertise referrals for it, a College Fix analysis found.
Illinois recently began requiring public higher education institutions to provide or offer referrals for contraception and abortion pills to students for free if the campus has a student health center. If the center includes a pharmacy, the school must provide abortion pills to students on campus, according to the law.
The Fix recently looked at the campus health center websites of all 12 public universities to see which offer abortion pills (sometimes referred to as medication abortions), which offer abortion referrals, and whether any offer other services for students who are pregnant. The Fix also contacted each university to ask about these services, but only three responded.
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None of the 12 universities offered prenatal care, and only two advertised pregnancy and parenting services and referrals for prenatal care, The Fix found.
One, Eastern Illinois University Charleston, advertises lactation spaces to parenting students on its website. It also offers prenatal care referrals, university spokesperson Eric Davidson told The Fix in an email last week.
“Once an individual is diagnosed as being pregnant, they are referred to an external specialist for prenatal care and treatment through the term of the pregnancy and post pregnancy. The Medical Clinic only sees students, and does not see dependents. Once the child is born, the parent needs to arrange medical care with external pediatric services,” Davidson said.
Although the university doesn’t provide child care, he said it “does have a Child and Family Life Education Center that provides practicum experience for students who wish to gain child care and education experience for children 3-5 years old.”
According to Davidson, “The university has also received grant funding since 1990 for the Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Center, which serves 6 counties and provides child care resources and technical assistance to parents, families, and child care providers, and assists families in paying for child care.”
Regarding the new abortion mandate from the state, Davidson said the university is complying by referring students to outside abortion providers.
“Since there is not a pharmacy on campus, the university does not have to comply with the statute of the law making medication abortion available through an on-campus pharmacy,” he said.
Beside the Charleston university, only one other school offers prenatal care referrals — Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, The Fix’s analysis found. The school also offers adoption information along with mental health services and other resources for pregnant students.
When contacted about the new abortion law, spokesperson Nicole Franklin responded that the university Health Service “is in compliance” and referred The Fix to its information page.
The Edwardsville university’s health center provides abortion pills up to 9 weeks of pregnancy. It describes the procedure as a “safe, effective, and non-surgical way to end an early pregnancy [that] can be completed in the privacy of your home, with support and guidance from our trained healthcare team.”
Meanwhile, Southern Illinois University Carbondale is close to implementing its plan to offer abortions on campus, Director of Student Health Services Jamie Clark told The Fix in a statement through a spokesperson.
“SIU Carbondale is finalizing its plan to ensure the university and its Student Health Services meet the requirements set forth by HB3709. We are very close to finalizing the plan and anticipate details will be made public in the near future,” Clark said via email last week.
However, these findings and the new law prompted concerns from a pro-life advocate with the Illinois-based Pro-Life Action League.
“Absolutely this law pressures college students to have abortions,” spokesperson Matthew Yonke told The Fix via email March 13. “The solutions that we provide to young women facing an unexpected pregnancy will change the way they think about their situation and how they respond to it.”
“We can expect very different results if we say, ‘We’ll provide you with all the support you need to take care of your child and finish your education’ instead of, ‘The only way out of this is an abortion, and here’s a free pill for you,’” Yonke said.
A similar law is in play in New York, which requires all public universities and colleges in the state to offer abortion pills or referrals. In that case, only nine of the 28 public institutions advertise prenatal care referrals, a previous Fix analysis found.
California and Massachusetts also have similar laws in place – which Yonke urged other states not to emulate.
“American women tell pollsters that they want more children than they’re having, and recent research shows that as many as 2/3 of women who have had abortions say they chose abortion against their values or preferences, and fully 1/4 said their abortions were unwanted or even coerced,” he told The Fix.
“Given these statistics, we should be crafting policies that encourage and provide resources for the family formation American women say they want but can’t afford,” Yonke said.
The pro-life leader also expressed concerns about abusive partners forcing young women into abortions.
“If abortion pills are handed out for free like candy on college campuses, it’s no stretch to imagine them falling into the hands of abusive men who might force them on unwilling girlfriends or wives, like the man in a recent story out of Ireland who was caught on tape telling his girlfriend, ‘It’s either you eat this [abortion pill] or I beat that kid out of you,’” Yonke said.
As for whether prenatal care and child support options should be equally available to students, he said, “We can debate whether it’s a moral imperative to provide daycare in every school, but certainly if the school is subsidizing abortion pills, services should also be offered for students who want to keep their child.”
The Fix also contacted several other pro-life and pro-choice groups, but none responded.
LifeNews Note: College Fix contributor Lauren Boyer is a student at at the University of Delaware where she studies English and is a member of the World Scholars Program. This column originally appeared at The College Fix.
