San Jose State will offer abortion pills by January 1st 2023

SAN JOSE, Calif. - California continues leading the way when it comes to providing access to abortion services. It’s now the first state to require all state colleges and universities to offer abortion pill access on campus. 

Senate Bill 24 was passed in 2019, offering access to abortion pills at all UC and Cal State campuses. Now San Jose State says it intends to meet that requirement by January 1st.  

California's lawmakers could not have predicted that Roe v Wade would be overturned nearly three years after SB 24 or the College Student Right to Access Act, became law. 

"Even if it is a mistake, you know, you learn from it. It’s better to be safe than sorry, and I just think that it’s up to you and your partner to make that choice and nobody else," said Marilyn Katz, a senior at San Jose State University. 

The California Commission on the Status of Women says SB 24 increases access to reproductive health care and reduces barriers hundreds of students face when they are forced to go off-campus for abortion services.  

"Nowadays it’s especially going to be important for people who don’t have money to get access to abortion medication. We all know it’s going to be determined by wealth, race, gender, access," said Courtney Westergren, a freshman at San Jose State. 

San Jose State says it will now offer access to abortion medication and released a statement saying in part: 

"While logistics are still being developed, SJSU anticipates integrating this service into the regular healthcare services offered through the Student Wellness Center. SJSU does not anticipate an increase in student health fees to offer abortion by medication services." San Jose State Univ.  

A UC San Francisco study estimates that 1,038 UC and Cal State students get an abortion each month. At San Jose State, they say at least 13 to 20 women a month will access abortion pills.  

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"We do talk about that from a male perspective. I feel like a lot of men are missing that perspective, that women are the ones who’ll be going through that, so why do you get a say in what they’ll be going through, instead of them?" said San Jose State freshman, David Tarnavsky.  

San Jose State says before the pandemic they serviced 20,000 appointments for all healthcare services. But they can’t predict if there’ll be a rise in demand for reproductive healthcare next year.