Last May, following the leak of the draft of the Supreme Court opinion that would soon overturn Roe v. Wade, hundreds of students gathered in front of Usdan to protest and stand in solidarity with each other. In light of the sobering reality that bodily autonomy was still up for political debate, many student groups, individual University offices, and faculty and staff members sprung into action, trying to ensure that students felt secure in their access to reproductive healthcare on campus.
Yet since Roe v. Wade was overturned, the University as a whole has made few amendments to its reproductive healthcare policies and has not made many statements in support of reproductive rights (with the exception of individual offices like CAPS and WesWell). In fact, the Davison Health Center’s link for information on abortion and reproductive healthcare has not been updated since May 22, 2022.
Demand for reproductive healthcare, including birth control and abortion care, absolutely exists on college campuses. In a 2018 study published in The Journal of Adolescent Health, researchers in the UC system estimated that around 300 to 500 students per month at public universities in California sought medicinal (pill-based) abortions. According to the Guttmacher Institute, in 2014, patients aged 20-24 obtained 34% of all abortions, and patients aged 18-19 obtained 8%.
According to the same study, about 3 out of 4 abortion patients either fell below the poverty line or were low-income. Whether people have access to services like contraceptives, birth control, and abortion depends, more than ever, on what state they live in and their socioeconomic background. Reproductive rights are an intersectional issue, often impacting already marginalized groups like FGLI students and students of color the most.
Though Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics are great resources in states like Connecticut that don’t restrict access, abortions can still be very costly. According to their website, the average cost of abortions at Planned Parenthood West Hartford tend to be in the range of $600 to $1000, depending on the type of procedure (pill-based or surgical) and what gestational period the patient is in. This isn’t affordable for many students (but should be affordable for a University with a 1.56 billion dollar endowment).
We spent the fall doing this research, talking to other student groups on campus who had more expertise on these issues, and meeting with healthcare providers. We then compiled a list of demands pertaining to specific needs that are currently going unmet on campus. These demands include free emergency contraceptives (Plan B and Ella) for all students regardless of what insurance plan they’re on, covered costs for off-campus abortions including safe transportation to and from the clinics, increased support for students over breaks, and increased transparency about reproductive healthcare resources.
There is clearly demand for these resources on campus. We posted a petition with these demands on Tuesday night, and within 24 hours of publication, it had 200 signatures!
We believe our demands are a logical and reasonable continuation of the current care provided by Wesleyan and of Wesleyan’s commitment toward the health and safety of its students. Having an unwanted pregnancy would affect every aspect of a student’s Wesleyan experience. The decision to terminate a pregnancy can be emotionally taxing, and having to worry about the logistics of accessing safe and affordable care creates an undue burden.
We’re very grateful to have such caring health providers on this campus, and would love to see more University support, financial and otherwise, directed to the health center so that our amazing providers can continue to support all aspects of student health.
By adopting such policies, Wesleyan could cement its status as an institution that values the well-being of its students, especially their reproductive rights and equality, by taking a more proactive stance against conservative attacks on reproductive justice.
In solidarity,
Wesleyan Democratic Socialists
P.S. Please sign and share our petition if you haven’t already and you support these demands. Feel free to get in touch with us if you have further questions or comments at wesdemocraticsocialists@gmail.com. Thank you so much!