Free Abortion Pills on Campus Now? Students Speak Out but Aren’t Heard

Timothy P. White is chancellor of the California State University system, the largest public four-year system of higher education in the United States. In that powerful role, he oversees 23 campuses and more than 479,000 students — many of whom are pro-life.

It seems, however, that these students don’t matter much to the chancellor’s office, according to Students for Life of America, a group that claimed in a recent press release that they’ve reached out to White’s office several times since March to discuss California’s controversial SB320.

Despite very serious concerns, their point of view has been ignored or overlooked, they claim.

If it passes, SB320 would mandate that all four-year public colleges dispense the RU-486 abortion drug for free through campus health centers — yet these entities are not set up adequately for these kinds of “services,” according to Students for Life.

“Campus health centers are also not equipped to properly determine the age of the pre-born baby, and RU-486 can only be used in a limited amount of time,” the press release noted. “The health centers are also not equipped with the ability to surgically intervene when complications arise.”

Based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Students for Life numbers more than 1,200 chapters on college campuses and high schools nationwide.

Camille Rodriguez, Pacific Southwest regional coordinator for the group, said in the press release that she and pro-life students called the chancellor’s office on several occasions, between March and April, to request a meeting to talk about the controversial bill. She said they left several messages but have gotten nowhere.

“As a resident and taxpayer in California, it is incredibly offensive to democratic ideals that I and others, many of whom are also residents and taxpayers of California, cannot have a discussion with the school system that is supposed to serve us,” she said.

Here’s where things get even murkier.

Rodriguez emailed Toni Molle, director of public affairs at California State University, office of the chancellor, on May 24 this year.

She wrote in her email: “Students from CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, and I have been trying to contact your office to schedule a meeting regarding SB320 since March. I’ve left voicemails for you, and the students have called and visited the chancellor’s office as well, trying to schedule a meeting. I am hoping we can schedule a meeting to discuss SB320 before June 8th. Are you available to meet with us on Wednesday, May 30?”

The abortion issue should be of paramount concern to anyone “entrusted with spending California taxpayers’ money.”

Molle responded that same day by email that she wasn’t the “appropriate person” to meet with about the bill, as she shared with LifeZette, but that the students should instead contact the Office of Advocacy and State Relations in Sacramento. She gave the phone number for that office.

But it’s unclear what that was, exactly. Was that proper protocol? Was that an immediate disregard for the pro-life students’ point of view? Or was it something else entirely?

Three months have passed since March, and there is no meeting scheduled.

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It does beg the question: If these students were part of another group — let’s say the Black Lives Matter movement, for example — would they have been treated with more urgency, more respect, especially with the mainstream media ready and willing to share narrative?

Such are the times we live in that questions like these arise.

Based on multiple college campuses’ feverishly positive responsiveness to myriad progressive issues, one can guess at some of the answers.

“We can infer that Timothy White and his staff are most likely beholden to the abortion lobby,” Matt Lamb Jr., vice president of communications for Students for Life of America, told LifeZette. “They do not want to even consider our issues.”

Related: University of Missouri Spent $1.3M Repairing Image After Student Protests

Lamb also noted that the abortion issue should be of paramount concern to anyone “entrusted with spending California taxpayers’ money.”

He added, “This new requirement will create a legal nightmare for schools, as this turns dorm rooms, bathrooms, and locker rooms into abortion mills, and also puts the campus health centers at risk of lawsuits, as they will have to take on millions of dollars in liability.”

Elizabeth Economou is a former CNBC staff writer and adjunct professor. Follow her on Twitter.

(photo credit, homepage image: November Demonstration Against Abortion, CC BY-SA 2.0, by University of Toronto Students for Life; photo credit, article image: Starting to get Crowded!, CC BY-SA 2.0, by University of Toronto Students for Life)