Abortion

Text by ANDY ROBINSON and NADIA SOBERG EXPERIENCING

NAVIGATING COLLEGE ADMISSIONS POST-SCOTUS DECISION

SUNNY OR SNOWY? Urban or rural? Close to home or the further the better? These are all factors students have traditionally considered when applying for colleges. But in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case on June 24, students are also grappling with its implications on their college experience. Following the ruling, states are now allowed to determine their own restrictions regarding the right to an abortion. As of September, 12 states, almost all Republican-controlled, have completely banned abortions and an additional nine have attempted to ban abortion, but had the request blocked by courts. Some states where abortion remains legal have implemented strict bans on abortions during the early stages of pregnancy.

The ruling has garnered polarizing responses, and the right to an abortion remains vulnerable across the country. Meanwhile, students are heading off to college.

In California, a state where the pro-choice movement holds an overwhelming majority according to the Public Policy Institute of California, students have their right to an abortion protected. Many, like Palo Alto High School senior and Palo Alto Unified School District Board Representative for the Associated Student Body Johannah Seah, are concerned about moving for college to a state where this is not the case.

“I think it [the overturning of Roe v. Wade] just made me kind of scared,” Seah said. “I've already understood that the world is not a place that's welcoming for me, but it's definitely not easy to have to reckon with the future where I always have the possibility of being assaulted, and then having no right to decide what to do after that.” Seah said she intentionally will not be applying to college in states where abortion is, or potentially will

be, restricted.

“I've always been wary,” Seah said. “Obviously California isn't the perfect utopia, but it's definitely better than any other state where abortion is banned.”

Many seniors, even those for whom abortion access may not be a top concern, are worried about the precedent set by the ruling and say they will not be attending college in states restricting abortion rights.

“I wasn't going to apply to all those [colleges] in those states, just because conservative states already had a lot of laws that I disagreed with,” senior Felix Blanch said. “So in that way, it [the new legislation] didn't affect much, but it really did reaffirm my choice not to do that.”

Others, such as senior Kylie Tzeng, are still willing to apply in states that have restricted abortion, and believe that there are more important considerations when choosing colleges.

“If it was my dream school in a state where they banned it [abortion], versus a random school in a state where it's open, I would pick my dream school,” Tzeng said.

The question remains whether application rates to schools in states where abortion is banned or restricted will see changes, particularly at more selective

“I always have the possibility of being assaulted, and then having no right to decide what to do after that." — JOHANNAH SEAH, senior

Art by ANNA GHEREGHLOU ROE REVERSAL

institutions. Cathren Cohen, a legal scholar at the UCLA Center on Reproductive Health, Law and Policy, said a large portion of students will likely factor the new restrictions into their college planning.

“There's already a pretty high rate of unplanned pregnancy among college students relative to other populations, and so I think it's definitely something that folks are going to be thinking about when they choose their schools,” Cohen said.

The impact of the decision is greater for some. Higher income students may be able to afford to travel to a state where abortion is accessible, but this is not an option for all.

“The impact of this decision are folks who are low-income, people who are immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants who really can't travel freely often and just people who don't have the resources to go to another state to get abortion care,” Cohen said.

In many Republican states where low-income students have less reproductive freedom, legislatures have moved to severely restrict or ban access to abortion since the Roe decision, while other states have passed legislation to ensure that the right to abortion is protected, according to The New York Times. In January, a California law will go into effect requiring all UCs and CSUs to provide abortion pills at their student health centers.

According to research published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, an estimated 322 to 519 CSU and UC students seek medication abortions each month. About 62% of California’s public college students

are over 30 minutes away from the nearest abortion facility. “Students aren't going to have to rely on cars,” Cohen said. “They often don't have public transit, which could be inconsistent. [Instead] they can just go on campus, … where they get all of their other health care. I think that's really powerful “ If it was my dream school in a state where they banned it [aborin getting rid of that stigma over what is a pretty common medical procedure.” Although abortion rights in tion], ... I would pick California remain my dream school.” protected for the foreseeable future, — KYLIE TZENG, senior some students say they are concerned about future Supreme Court rulings. In his concurring opinion to overturn Roe vs. Wade, Justice Clarence Thomas directly challenged the validity of the Griswold, Lawrence and Obergefell rulings, which legalized contraception, same sex activity and same-sex marriage, respectively. If these rulings were to be overturned, many students, according to Cohen, may consider these rights as they navigate their college applications. “ I definitely expect in particular people who can get pregnant to be “These kinds of attacks [on abortion and LGBTQ rights] often go hand-inhand,” Cohen said. thinking about this." Ultimately, Cohen said she believes — CATHREN COHEN, UCLA Center on that the effect of the Reproductive Health, Law & Policy overturning of Roe will be widespread, not only for college students seeking abortions, but for a broad segment of the public seeking reproductive care. “To see how quickly people have been denied, not just abortions, but all sorts of other reproductive health care [shows] the really large chilling effect on the medical profession in general,” Cohen said. “That's what I'm thinking of.” v

ABORTION LEGALITY

Total number of U.S. college students split by in-state access to abortion

80.3% 7.5%

12.2%

Top 100 U.S. universities split by in-state access to abortion

86.4% 10%

3.6%

Restricted

Legal Banned

Data sourced from The New York Times's updating abortion tracker on Sept. 13 for every state and student data from the Education Data Initiative, which sources from the US Census and National Center for Education Statistics. The top 100 universities are sourced from the US News & World Report.