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Urge Jerry Brown to veto SB 320

We encourage our supporters to oppose SB 320 by urging Governor Jerry Brown to veto this bill.

Jerry Brown may be a pro-choice Democrat, but he has vetoed bad, pro-choice legislation before.  He needs to hear from you why SB 320 is a bad bill.

To send the Governor an email, go to https://govapps.gov.ca.gov/gov39mail/.  At the bottom of the screen, you can enter your name, email, and choose from the dropdown menu what you wish to comment about. Scroll down until you find “SB00320\Public university student health centers: medical abortion readiness.” After you hit the “continue” button, you can state your position (“Con”) and insert a letter of opposition.  Feel free to use your own words, or simply cut and paste the following sample letter that we at Right to Life have prepared at the bottom of the post.

Contact Jerry Brown today.  Your voice matters!

Dear Governor Brown:

Abortion is one of the most difficult decisions a woman will ever have to make, yet it is a choice many undergo without learning about alternatives and support available for new mothers, particularly for those who are trying to complete their education.  As a California resident and voter, I urge you to veto SB 320.

With SB 320, very young college-aged women, some of them minors, will have access to chemical abortions at CSU and UC student health centers by 2022.  Chemical abortion involves two different medications.  The first, most often referred to as Mifepristone or RU-486, blocks the natural release of progesterone. The second, Misoprostol, artificially induces a miscarriage.

During this chemical abortion procedure, women may experience excruciating pain and can be visually aware of the termination of their baby. There are numerous and significant health risks involved. The process takes days to complete, and can involve serious emotional and physical side effects, including heavy bleeding—which can involve the passage of blood clots as large as a lemon—nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever, which can be a sign of serious infection, an ectopic pregnancy, or incomplete expulsion. The health risks are far greater than a “heavy period,” and the vast majority of student health centers and college dormitories are not equipped to handle such serious potential issues. In fact, the bill still has no requirement for health centers to have an agreement in place with local medical providers to provide services and support in the event of complications.

Amendments to the bill do little to fix these serious issues.  First, they do not change the unsanitary conditions and lack of preparedness of a college dormitory and student health clinic for women undergoing chemical abortion.  Secondly, they do little to resolve the liability concerns for universities, who are now being forced to involve themselves directly with providing abortions, and with all the potentially adverse health outcomes that can result.  Lastly, while the bill purports to fund this entire program privately, the bill provides no safeguard to prevent money from the state’s General Fund, or from student tuition fees, to pay for ongoing support of the program. Public funding of abortion is something that a strong majority of Americans and millions of Californians oppose.  The state is also directly involving itself with the practice of furnishing abortions in a fashion disproportionate to any efforts to provide non-abortion alternatives, such as adoption resources or resources for young mothers to continue their education.  The bill may involve violations of the federal Weldon Amendment as a result.  Lastly, it forces numerous state employees to involve themselves directly in the administration of abortion with no mention of conscience exemptions.

We believe California should place a greater priority on resources like on-campus childcare, mother-child-family living arrangements, flexible exam schedules, opportunities for pregnant and parenting students to take a temporary leave without losing scholarships or loans, or other resources for student-mothers like car seats, diapers, maternity clothes, transportation assistance, baby clothes, job training, housing assistance, strollers, and parenting classes.  Motherhood is not incompatible with educational success, and women who choose this path should be supported.