CALIFORNIA—Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 24 requiring public universities in California to provide an abortion pill on Friday, October 11. Senate Bill 24, also known as The College Student Right to Access Act, was amended initially three separate times and passed by the Assembly and Senate on September 13.
SB 24 requires the new university health service to begin on or after January 1, 2023. The bill was introduced by Senator Connie Leyva of Chino.
The bill allows for abortion medication to be distributed across California campuses as a way of providing safe alternatives to surgical abortion. The bill is aimed to decrease barriers for students who are forced to go off-campus to seek medication. The two-step medication will be cost-effective for students and administered by health specialists. The state of California doubled its reproductive health investment to $100 million in this year’s budget.
SB 24 looks to improve the future of students, as explained on the website, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. that states:
“(b) More than 400,000 students classified as female are educated at California’s public university campuses, and it is central to the mission of California’s public university student health centers to minimize the negative impact of health concerns on students’ studies and to facilitate retention and graduation.”
