Law professor wants colleges to help students get abortions in post-Roe America

The Supreme Court decision Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization has had some academics touting pro-abortion policies. 

“College students have sex,” University of Tulsa professor of Law Janet Levit wrote for the Chronicle of Higher Education on June 14. 

“And with sex will come unintended pregnancies, or at least the fear of unintended pregnancy,” the Oklahoma professor continued. “Unsurprisingly, one study found that 18- to 24-year-olds accounted for over 40 percent of abortions in the United States.”

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its Dobbs ruling on June 24. Oklahoma’s trigger law made abortion illegal in the state on the same day. 

According to Levit, the criminalization of abortion will have a devastating impact on colleges in states that have strict abortion laws. She argued that students “will pause” before going to a college in an anti-abortion state. 

[RELATED: Progressive politics at Stanford Law School go beyond pro-abortion initiatives]

“Prospective students will pause before deciding to live in a state where the legislature radiates an almost obsessive hostility toward women’s reproductive-health-care choices,” Levit wrote.

Campus Reform spoke to Students for Life staff writer Caroline Wharton about this line of argumentation.

Wharton told Campus Reform the “abortion lobby” often compares a “Post-Roe America” to shows like The Handmaid’s Tale. 

“The abortion lobby loves to fear-monger about what a post-Roe America will look like, and they are claiming that it will be straight out of the Handmaiden’s Tale—but that’s just not reality,” she said.

Wharton pointed to Texas as a good example of what a pro-life America might look like.

“Texas is a great example of this right now as they are essentially living in a post-Roe state under their various pro-life laws, and women continue to live normal lives,” she noted.

Levit suggested in her article that colleges try and fill in the gaps when it comes to contraceptive care and abortions, including accessing out-of-state abortions. 

“They could make pregnancy tests and contraception, including emergency contraception, readily available to students and staff at no charge,” she wrote. “They could allocate resources to support students and employees in obtaining out-of-state abortion care.”

[RELATED: Yale alumni use reunion to protest Kavanaugh weeks after WH condoned protesting outside justices’ homes]

Wharton put forward a different solution. 

“In a post-Roe America, the pro-life movement will ensure that women are not standing alone, and Students for Life of America’s initiative Standing With You is an excellent example of how we will help female college students and all women in unplanned pregnancies succeed in their goals without sacrificing their child,” she explained.

The Supreme Court overturning Roe has spurred student protests across the nation. 

On Friday, President Biden said that the ruling was a “somber moment” for the country. 

Campus Reform reached out to Professor Levit and the University of Tulsa and will update this article accordingly. 

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