State Could Devote Millions To Student Abortion Pill Outreach After LAist Investigation

To raise awareness about access to abortion pills at California’s public universities, a state agency is calling for nearly $2.2 million in spending to address gaps on campuses identified in an LAist investigation.

That investigation reported that more than a year after state law required public universities to provide the pills to students at campus health clinics, many were not letting the students know about them. LAist reporting identified numerous campuses that failed to provide information about medication abortions on their websites or list it anywhere as a service offered.

The reporting spurred the proposal to do better. At a meeting of the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, a grant manager laid out details and the need to raise awareness.

“The LAist articles, a lot of folks have seen that, that's one of the examples where students just aren't even aware that they can go to their student health center and be provided medication abortion easily, quickly, painlessly,” said Jen DeGrossa at the April 3 meeting.

The proposal calls for spending millions on student outreach. It would require the commission to provide universities with social media and other marketing campaigns, as well as information on medication abortion for campus websites, though it’s up to the universities whether they use those resources. It also offers the option of paying for peer navigators to help students through the process at universities that want them.

“This is one of our huge goals to sort of improve awareness for students throughout the state that this service is offered for them,” DeGrossa said.

The commission will review the final proposal later this month.

The backstory

Medication abortion is a two-step process: One drug is taken to inhibit the pregnancy and another is taken a day later to induce cramping and bleeding and empty the uterus. It is the most common form of abortion in the U.S. and can be used up to about 10 weeks of pregnancy.

In January, LAist reported that more than a year after California became the first state to require its public universities to provide abortion pills to students, 11 of 23 California State University campus clinics did not provide any information about medication abortion on their clinic websites.

Of the University of California’s 10 campuses, eight mentioned medication abortion on their clinic websites. (Five CSU campuses and one UC campus added medication abortion as a service after LAist published the story.)

"We wanted to make sure that students, female students, had access to this right," Connie Leyva, the former Pomona-area state senator who authored the law, said late last year.

"Everything starts at the top,” Leyva added. “And if the president or chancellor of the university knows they have to offer it, but if they don't agree that women should have access to abortion services, then they might just think, 'We'll leave it off, we don't have to worry about it.'”

What is the law?

In 2019, California legislators passed a law requiring all 33 public university campuses to provide abortion pills. The law took effect in January 2023, after implementation was delayed by the pandemic.

The legislature created a $10.29-million fund of privately raised money to help universities implement the new law. Of that, each campus received $200,000 in one-time funding to pay for the medication and cover costs, such as facility upgrades, equipment, training, telehealth services, and security upgrades.

The funding did not include any requirement that campus clinics inform students the medication was available to them.

“We have learned, through reporting, through our engagement with student advocacy groups, with other state leadership, there's definitely room for opportunity to make medication abortion more accessible to students on the ground at all of the campuses,” DeGrossa told commissioners.

A card given to students at California State University-San Bernardino's Student Health Center does not list medication abortion as a service even though the center does provide it.

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Jackie Fortiér/LAist

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How will the money be spent?

DeGrossa said $8.1 million of the grant money has already been spent and proposed that the remaining money, which totals just under $2.2 million, focus on student outreach. The grant must be spent by the end of 2026.

Of the remaining funding, the majority — just under $1.6 million — would pay for commission staff, including the communications team, graphic design, outreach and social media campaigns, according to the proposal.

“We are also wanting to tap a good amount of our money into kind of providing oversight, engagement, coordination, assistance, support around this to make sure that this is getting done,” she said. “So, for example, if a [university] spent all their [grant] money and they don't have any money left for marketing or outreach, we have money. We're happy to help support that.”

DeGrossa did not say when the outreach materials or support will be available to campuses.

A proposed $300,000 would be spent on peer navigators.

“I think the LAist article referred to this as ‘abortion doulas,’” DeGrossa said. “Some subject matter experts on the ground who know the environment and the culture and can help students or student health centers sort of navigate some of these challenges that are popping up.”

The proposal calls for $40,000 for travel so commission employees can visit campus clinics around the state, and about $300,000 for outreach consultants to design social media and marketing campaigns.

A final impact report is estimated to cost $22,000 to produce, and the remaining $468,000 is taken up by the cost of the commission itself, under operations and expenditures.

The full commission is expected to consider the proposal for final approval at a meeting to be held the week of April 22.

Even if it passes, the patchwork of information on public campuses could continue. The commission lacks oversight authority and cannot compel the universities to post or disseminate the informational materials.

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Listen • 37:50

Listen • 37:50

LAist Investigates: The Unknown Mandate - Accessing Medication Abortion at California Universities

California universities are supposed to provide abortion medication to students who are need of it, thanks to a law that went into effect early in 2023. But a lot of students don't know this as many of these campuses fail to mention it.