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Only 3 campus health centers advertise ultrasounds; all of them offer abortions, College Fix analysis finds
Every public California university is required by law to provide abortions in their student health centers, but only three provide ultrasounds and none advertise comprehensive prenatal care on campus, a College Fix analysis found.
A number of campuses do offer non-medical resources, such as family study rooms, for pregnant and parenting students. However, the medical services for pregnant students appear limited primarily to abortions.
For the analysis, The College Fix looked at the student health center websites at 33 University of California and California State University campuses. The Fix compared the medical services they provide for pregnant students.
Three campuses, UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, and Chico State, advertise ultrasounds available for pregnant students. However, none of the 33 campus health centers offer comprehensive prenatal care in-house, according to their websites.
At one campus, Cal State Long Beach, the Student Health Services told The College Fix via email that it “is happy to assist students in connecting with appropriate outside providers” when asked about prenatal care.
In comparison, all UC and CSU campuses are required by law to offer abortion pills at their campus health centers.
California was the first state to require public universities to provide abortion pills in their health centers in 2023.
Under the law, universities without health centers on campus must offer abortion referrals. Only one, UCLA, currently does not have a campus health center, according to the most recent annual report on the law.
Since the law went into effect, almost 1,700 abortions have been performed on California campuses, The Fix reported in July.
“We strongly urge schools to accommodate pregnant and parenting students, as education is a pathway out of poverty and a tool that should be extended to people who have families, and not just those who don’t,” Students for Life spokesperson Kristi Hamrick told The Fix in a recent email.
Her nonprofit organization works with more than 1,600 student pro-life clubs on campuses across the country.
Hamrick believes California’s campus health centers should be offering medical care to pregnant students and their unborn babies.
“When it comes to medical care on college campuses, we can’t ask schools to set up a health center if that is not a service they offer. But if they have one, we can demand that life-affirming care be included,” she told The Fix.
The California Women’s Law Center declined to comment when contacted about the analysis. The law center, which is pro-abortion, referred The Fix to the Center for Worklife Law’s Pregnant Scholars program.
The program teaches colleges about Title IX protections and helps advocate for the best policies to serve the interests of pregnant students. All services provided to students are free.
The need for pregnancy resources is growing. Nearly one in five college students today are already parents, The Fix reported earlier this year.
In connection with the changing demographics, some California campuses are opting to offer their own unique support services to parenting students.
One is Cal State Fullerton’s Tiny Titan Bundle, a free basket of baby supplies, including a onesie, diaper bag, books, and other parenting necessities, offered to expecting mothers and fathers who attend school there.
Additionally, The Fix found a handful of universities have family study rooms with toys, books, and activities for children while their parents study.
Some campus health centers also advertise information about diaper changing stations, lactation spaces, and priority registration for pregnant students. Notably, public universities are required by law to offer certain accommodations such as exam flexibility and comfortable seating for pregnant students through Title IX.
Still, pro-life leaders believe the state’s abortion laws are putting pressure on students to abort their unborn babies, and not enough emphasis is being placed on supporting mothers and children in need.
In September, the California legislature passed a new law to expand abortions even further on college campuses. The law, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Sunday, require community colleges to offer abortions on their campuses.
San Francisco Democrat Catherine Stefani, who sponsored the bill, believes it will close “a critical gap” in campus health care, according to a news release.
The law will ensure that “community college students—one of the most diverse and economically vulnerable populations in our state—have the same access to care as their peers at four-year institutions,” she stated.
However, Leandra Wells with the California Family Council opposed the law during a hearing in July, stating that pregnant women need better support and not more pressure to abort their unborn babies.
The College Fix reached out multiple times to several pro-life and pro-choice groups in California for comment on medical services for pregnant students on campus, but none responded.
Since California passed its campus abortion mandate, New York, Massachusetts, Colorado, Maryland, Illinois, and Connecticut have followed with similar laws.
In Illinois, The College Fix found that none of its public university health centers advertise prenatal care but all must offer abortions. Another Fix analysis of New York’s campuses found only nine of 78 advertise prenatal care.
MORE: New York college ‘reproductive justice garden’ features plants promoted as ‘abortifacients’
