UC Santa Barbara has offered medication abortions to students since Spring Quarter 2022 in compliance with California Senate Bill 24, which mandates all UC student health centers provide the service for students by Jan. 2023.
“The UC remains on track for full implementation by the statute’s January 1, 2023 deadline,” UC Office of the President (UCOP) said in a statement to the Nexus. “UC’s academic medical centers currently provide reproductive health services, including abortions.”
UCSB provides reproductive health services and maintains referral relationships with community centers and facilities for abortion services at the request of students. They also provide medication abortions on a “flexible schedule” according to student needs, Student Health Services gynecologist Kellie DeLozier said.
“The Sexual & Reproductive Health service is fully staffed with providers to meet UCSB students’ reproductive healthcare needs,” DeLozier said in a statement to the Nexus. “This group includes physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and a large support staff.”
Appointments are made available during the clinic’s business hours — available on the Student Health Services website — and services can be requested at any time but will only be responded to during business hours. There is also a nurse on the 24-hour call line for emergencies after hours.
SB 24 allocates funding to every public university’s student health care services clinic for medication abortion services. The California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls — an organization that advocates for legislation that impact women in California — will administer funding through the College Student Health Center Sexual and Reproductive Health Preparation Fund, newly established by the bill.
Senator Connie Leyva introduced SB 24 after then-governor Jerry Brown vetoed SB 320 — a bill of similar provisions with SB 24 — which was introduced in 2017. The bill passed in the Senate on May 16, 2019 before passing the state assembly on Aug. 30, 2019. Governor Gavin Newsom approved the bill in October 2019.
The bill originated at UC Berkeley, when the Students United for Reproductive Justice worked to provide greater accessibility to medication abortion services. The organization eventually rallied support from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, connecting the organization to Leyva and introducing the bill at the state level.
The bill also mandates the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls to submit a report to the legislature on or before Dec. 31, 2021 — as well as on or before Dec. 31 of every year until 2026 — that includes information on medication abortions at these established clinics on UC campuses, among others.
“UC believes all students should have access to affordable and convenient reproductive healthcare of their choosing,” UCOP said in a statement to the Nexus.
A version of this article appeared on p. 3 of the Oct. 6, 2022 print edition of the Daily Nexus.
[Correction 10/9/2022, 6:03 p.m.]: A previous version of this article referred to medication abortions as “medical abortions,” which, although it is technically correct, can be understood as including surgical abortions — a service UCSB’s Student Health does not offer. The article has since been corrected to refer to this service as “medication abortions.”