The College Fix

ANALYSIS: State law requires public campuses to offer abortion pills or referrals to providers, but it does not require prenatal care

While every public higher education institution in New York is required by law to offer abortions, only nine offer prenatal care referrals, a College Fix analysis found.

Of the 78 City University of New York and State University of New York campuses looked at, nine advertise referrals to providers that offer prenatal care and eight offer lactation rooms. The Fix based its findings on the resources listed on the schools’ campus health center and health services webpages.

It was not long ago that the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study estimated that over 3.1 million (almost one in five) undergraduates are parenting.

However, only a few of the campus health center websites reviewed by The Fix list support services, such as lactation rooms or childcare, for pregnant students and parents of young children.

One school, York College, offers childcare assistance, and another, SUNY Old Westbury, advertises a baby changing room. But none mention providing on-campus ultrasounds, prenatal care, or other medical services for students preparing to give birth, and only nine advertise referrals for these services.

One institution, Westchester Community College specifically mentions on its webpage that while it provides abortion resources, as is required by law, it does not provide prenatal care.

“Westchester Community College does not provide pre-natal care on-campus. The Health Services website will maintain a list of community agencies and/or providers authorized to prescribe abortion medication. Students will be referred to the Office of Accessibility Services for pregnancy or pregnancy related accommodations,” the website states, followed by a list of local Planned Parenthood facilities and one independent abortion provider.

In the research, two schools stood out for their contrasting medical services.

The renowned Fashion Institute of Technology SUNY, which is made up of an 82 percent female student body, does not mention prenatal care on its health services page, although it does offer free acupuncture and massage therapy.

In comparison was Hostos Community College, which has an open admissions policy and 23 percent graduation rate. However, along with abortion, the college also offers a Family Empowerment Program through its health center.

With the goal to “provide adequate social services and academic supports to students with children from birth to age 14,” the program ensures that students are “provided with individualized case management and social work services, advocacy, educational workshops, transportation, emotional support and much more.”

The Fix reached out to the fashion institute and community college for comment twice with in the past two weeks to ask for more details about the services they provide to pregnant and parenting students, but neither responded.

State law requires campuses to offer abortions

In 2023, New York enacted a law that requires public higher education institutions to provide abortion pills to students at the school itself or through referrals to outside providers.

The law says abortion pills, also known as medication abortion, are safe for the mother, stating, “For decades, medication abortion has provided a safe, non-invasive, and effective way to end a pregnancy.”

Furthermore, it explains how abortion pills are distinct from the morning after pill. “While the morning after pill is intended to prevent pregnancy from occurring, medication abortion is intended to prevent an existing pregnancy from progressing.”

The Fix contacted the lead sponsor of the bill, state Sen. Cordell Cleare twice within the past two weeks, asking about The Fix’s analysis and whether and to what extent she supports requiring prenatal care and other pregnancy resources at SUNY and CUNY schools. Her office did not respond.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Students for Life of America told The Fix that more colleges and universities should be providing support services to pregnant and parenting students.

“Many schools have health centers on campuses and offer students health care policies, too often with prejudice in favor of ending life through abortion,” Kristi Hamrick told The Fix in a recent email. “Pregnancy is not a disease cured by abortion. Student healthcare, if offered, should include support for pregnant and parenting students.”

“It’s ironic that schools in blue states brag about pushing abortion through student health centers, while so many students work to embrace career, education, and family as well rounded people,” she said.

Pertaining to abortion pills, Students for Life is calling on the Surgeon General to include a warning about their “severe side effects.”

Hamrick told The Fix, “No educational reason exists to expose women to injury, infertility, and death, while at school, or to empower abusers using Chemical Abortion Pills against mothers without their knowledge or consent.”

Along with causing “abortion water pollution,” Hamrick said, “It defies common sense for schools to be asked to prioritize ending the lives of future students or to believe that parents send their children to school, hoping that the lives of their grandchildren are ended in the womb.”

Hamrick also brought up the legal rights of pregnant and parenting students. Her organization, which works with hundreds of pro-life student clubs on campuses across the country, advocates for students’ legal rights under Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex-based and pregnancy discrimination.

“Students who are pregnant and parenting — both morally and legally — deserve to have their needs accommodated. We understand this easily when someone has a physical barrier … but when it comes to the natural realities of being pregnant or parenting, sometimes those students get ignored,” she said.

“Pregnant and parenting students should be accepted on campuses like everyone else, and their needs addressed if a school has healthcare for them,” Hamrick said.

The Fix also contacted the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women, the New York Abortion Access Fund, and Feminists Choosing Life of New York to ask about the services campus health centers offer to pregnant students, but none responded.

MORE: New to New York campuses this fall: abortion pills

IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A mother holds her baby in her arms; Alena Ozerova/Shutterstock

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