Senate Bill 24, allows Cal States and UC health service offices to make abortion pills accessible to students on campus, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom at the begining of Oct., unfortunately this bill excludes community colleges.
The main issue with this exclusion is that it seems to be doing the opposite of it’s intention, which is supposed to be making safe abortions more accessible.
The bill was initially introduced in early 2017, as SB-320, which advocated for the same issue, that medical abortions be provided by university health service offices but it was vetoed in September of 2018.
The bills are relatively the same, the only major changes made were dates, amounts of money/funding due to inflation and some portions of the bill are worded differently to appear more clear.
An issue with SB-24 is one of the sections barely scratches the surface of costs, which is roughly $200,000 for training, equipment and the distribution of the funding per university.
It is stated that the cost of it all will require at least $10,290,000, so $200,000 is not that much money regarding all the equipment and training that will come out of these funds.
There are 146 public universities in California, 114 of those being community colleges. If community colleges make up the majority of institutions in the state, there is no reason why they shouldn’t be included in this bill.
Many students see community colleges as a place to save money and speed through their general education classes, but just because those reasons, those students still should not miss out on the opportunities that those at higher institutions benefit from.
According to three New York Times articles focusing on family incomes in the California college system, the median family income for community college students is $34,900.
The median family income for a Cal State is roughly $60,000, and for a UC is about $100,000.
This just goes to show that those in community colleges may face more financial hardships which results in a limit of resources, opposed to those at higher universities.
The goal of this bill is to make abortions safe and accessible for students who need it.
When California State Senator Connie M. Leyva wrote the bill, she should have taken into account the people attending lower institutions who could benefit from the SB-24.
Community colleges being excluded from this is marginalizing disadvantaged groups who the bill would help more than other students who may have an easier time accessing these tools.
There is already a stigma surrounding community colleges, so by congress not including community colleges in the bill further creates the divide between higher institutions.
Often times, it is assumed that community colleges are a last resort for students who didn’t have the grades or money for a CSU or UC, but depriving them from resources that should be universally accessible only makes the divide of higher education worse.
This exclusive senate bill is marginalizing community college students more than they already are, LBCC Vikings are just as important as Cal State Fullerton Titans or UC Irvine Anteaters, we should be given the same opportunities as everyone else.