ANALYSIS: State law mandates that public schools provide contraception tablets or referrals to companies, but no antenatal care.
According to a College Fix study, only nine public higher education institutions in New York are required to provide antenatal care referrals, compared to the nine that do so.
Nine of the 78 schools studied by the City University of New York and State University of New York advertise visits to antenatal care providers, and eight provide nursing areas. The Fix based its conclusions on the information listed on the school’s website for school health center and health providers.
The National Postsecondary Student Aid Study estimated that almost one in five students are parents, according to a recent estimation from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.
Just a few of the school health facility platforms, according to The Fix, record companies like breastfeeding areas or child care for female students and parents of young children.
One college, York College, offers assistance with care, and another, SUNY Old Westbury, offers a changing room for children. Nothing, however, mention providing on-campus ultrasounds, antenatal care, or other health services for kids getting ready to give birth, and merely nine advertise recommendations for these solutions.
Westchester Community College, a particular organization, especially mentions on its website that while it offers abortion tools as is required by law, it does not offer prenatal treatment.
Westchester Community College does not offer on-campus pre-natal treatment. A list of community organizations and/or providers authorized to offer abortion medications may be maintained on the Health Services site. According to the site, students will be directed to the Office of Accessibility Services for maternity or other accommodations related to the pregnancy, followed by a list of neighborhood Planned Parenthood services and one independent pregnancy service.
Two institutions stood out in the study for their contrasting health services.
Prenatal care is not mentioned on the famous Fashion Institute of Technology SUNY’s health services page, but it does give free treatment and massage treatments. The renowned Fashion Institute of Technology SUNY, which is made up of an 82 percent feminine student body, offers free acupuncture and massage therapy.
Hostos Community College, a community college with an open admissions policy and a 23 percent graduation rate, was a competitor. The college also offers a Family Empowerment Program through its health center in addition to abortion.
The program makes sure that students are given individualized case management, social work services, advocacy, educational workshops, transportation, emotional support, and much more with the objective of “providing adequate social services and academic supports to students with children from birth to age 14”.
The Fix twice contacted the fashion institute and community college for comment in exchange for more information about the services they offered pregnant and nursing students, but neither of them responded.
Campuses must offer abortions, according to state law.
A law was passed in New York in 2023 that mandated that public higher education institutions provide abortion pills to students either at the school itself or through referrals to outside providers.
The law states that the mother is safe when using abortion pills, also known as medication abortion, and that “medication abortion has provided a safe, non-invasive, and effective way to end a pregnancy for decades.”
Additionally, it provides an explanation of how abortion pills differ from the morning after pill. While the morning after pill is meant to stop pregnancy from occurring, the medication abortion is meant to stop an already-progressing pregnancy.
State Sen. Cordell Cleare, the bill’s lead sponsor, twice in the last two weeks, to The Fix to inquire about her analysis and whether and how much she supports requiring prenatal care and other pregnancy resources at SUNY and CUNY. Her office did not respond.
In the meantime, a SLA representative told The Fix that more colleges and universities should be offering support to pregnant and parenting students.
Kristi Hamrick told The Fix in a recent email that “many schools have health centers on campuses and offer students health care policies, too frequently with prejudice in favor of ending life through abortion.” ” Pregnancy is not a disease that can be treated by abortion. If offered, support for pregnant and nursing students should be included in the curriculum.
” It’s ironic that schools in blue states boast about pushing abortion through student health centers, but so many students work as well-rounded people in their careers, education, and families,” she said.
Students for Life is asking the Surgeon General to include a warning about the” severe side effects” of abortion pills in their list.
No educational reason exists to encourage abusers who use Chemical Abortion Pills against mothers without their knowledge or consent, according to Hamrick, who quoted Hamrick as saying to The Fix.
According to Hamrick,” It defies common sense for schools to be asked to prioritize ending the lives of future students or for parents to send their children to school in hopes that their grandchildren’ lives are ended in the womb.” Hamrick also cited “abortion water pollution.”
Hamrick also brought up the legal rights of pregnant and parenting students. Her organization, which collaborates with hundreds of pro-life student organizations on campuses across the country, fights for students ‘ legal rights under Title IX, a federal law that forbids sex-based and pregnancy discrimination.
” Students who are pregnant and raising children deserve to have their needs met, both morally and legally.” We readily acknowledge this when someone has a physical barrier, but sometimes those students are ignored when it comes to the realities of being pregnant or parenting, she said.
If a school offers healthcare to pregnant and parenting students, they should be treated like everyone else and accepted on campuses, according to Hamrick.
The Fix also contacted Feminists Choosing Life of New York, Feminists Choosing Life of New York, and the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women, to inquire about the services that campus health centers provide pregnant students, but none of them responded.
MORE: Abortion pills are coming to the New York campuses this fall.
a mother holds her baby in her arms, Alena Ozerova/Shutterstock IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT
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