Imagine that you were a college student, and pregnant. So you go to the university health services for advice. Two of the employees there, university employees, recount to you the embarrassment and inconvenience associated with pregnancy. If you do decide to have the child, they explain to you, the university will almost certainly give you no support; it will do nothing to make things easier for you. And then they urge you to have an abortion.
It’s the sort of story I’ve heard numerous times on college campuses across the country. But there’s nothing like a firsthand account: Some UCLA students decided to go undercover to find out for themselves how the university’s health services would treat a pregnant student. They published their findings in an independent student newspaper in January.
“UCLA doesn’t support people who are pregnant and make things easier for them necessarily,” a health center nurse practitioner allegedly told UCLA’s Lila Rose, the student reporter who wrote the story published in The Advocate on January 22. Rose posed as a pregnant student and, with a friend, attended counseling sessions with health-center employees.
The nurse practitioner laid out the options for Rose: drug-induced abortion (RU-486) or surgical abortion. She also told Rose how to obtain a free abortion through Medi-Cal, a federally and state-supported health-care system for the poor. Rose is covered under her parents’ health-insurance plan, but to use that she’d have to let them know about the abortion. To use Medical, she’s supposed not to be covered under any health insurance plan. But the nurse practitioner knew how to get around that regulation.
This, apparently, is what is meant by “choice.”
Rose’s UCLA experience isn’t an isolated one. Feminists for Life speaker Julia Thornton was given the same advice more than a decade ago at a private college in a different state. Says Thornton: “I left the appointment feeling frustrated. I wanted to explore all my options, and, in my opinion, my counselor gave advice far too prematurely. At that point I felt I had no recourse. I didn’t know where else on campus to go. I had extreme morning sickness and began missing classes.”
Thornton persisted, gave birth to a daughter, and more than a decade later she says: “When I made the decision I made 13 years ago, people asked, why ruin your life? Why squander all the privileges and advantages you have just because of one mistake? Well, let me tell you, the greatest privilege I’ve ever had in my life has nothing to do with my education, world travel or professional experiences. The greatest privilege I have ever known is giving life to a beautiful, compassionate and curious little girl who would never have been in this world had I followed everyone’s advice.“
About the time Thornton gave birth, I began criss-crossing the country, lecturing at top colleges and universities on the topic of 200 years of pro-life feminism in America. (Yes, Susan B. Anthony and the rest were anti-abortion.) Then a Feminists for Life board member prompted the organization to figure out how to provide pregnant students with support. She shared her story of an unplanned pregnancy as a grad student, and the lack of resources and support. “What choice? Without housing, day care and maternity coverage it didn’t feel like much of a choice,” she said. She miscarried under the stress.
Whether by means of unambiguous warnings or deafening silence, pregnant students get the message: “You are on your own. You can’t figure this out, and you shouldn’t make it anyone else’s problem. Just make it go away.” What Feminists for Life says is this: Women deserve better.
Feminists for Life organized its inaugural Pregnancy Resource Forum at Georgetown University in 1997. The forums bring together students, administrators, and service providers to figure out ways to support pregnant and parenting students. Since then, we’ve had forums at Berkeley, Wellesley, Harvard, and other schools across the country. Campuses are transforming, little by little, as they offer practical solutions — from new family housing to child care to telecommuting options and more.
Feminists for Life’s Pregnancy Resource Forums have inspired legislation in Michigan and on Capitol Hill. The Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act would provide funding for universities to provide services for pregnant and parenting students.
Resources to help pregnant and parenting students should not be a secret. Students, as well as pregnant and parenting staff, should not only have support, but they should know what support is available and how to access it. With The Advocate story just being published, it remains to be seen whether the undercover report by Rose and her peers will make a difference on campus. Rose has reached out to the other women’s organizations on campus, inviting them to work together to provide resources and support. Feminists for Life has offered to organize a Pregnancy Resource Forum to foster a campus-wide effort to support pregnant and parenting students. But it is time for the university to make some changes itself.
This is about nothing less than changing the culture. In the Roe v. Wade case 34 years ago, part of attorney Sarah Weddington’s argument in favor of abortion was that a woman who was pregnant could not complete her education. Today, we know better. We know that pregnant and parenting students have the capacity and commitment to succeed. Feminists for Life is working to be a catalyst for change. And a new generation of student leaders like Rose is stepping forward to create a better world for women and their children.
– Serrin M. Foster is president of Feminists for Life of America, a pro-woman, pro-life organization based in Alexandria, Va.