Photo by Quinn Kinsella
By Quinn Kinsella
Abortion access is one of the biggest controversies in this country. With opposing views led by both
candidates in the imminent presidential election and Roe v. Wade being overturned in 2022, it is a matter that is as divisive as ever. For college students, it is of extreme relevance and one that directly impacts their lives and mental well being. The City College of New York promised abortion access starting in 2025, but so far, crickets. The CUNY Rising Alliance is fighting for reproductive rights through their project Pills4ThePeople. The Paper spoke with them regarding where the college stands and how the future of abortion access will look in the city and on the campus.
CCNY promised abortion access by the start of the new year. With only 8 weeks until 2025, there have yet to be any announcements. Continuing with the myriad of false promises the CCNY administration has made, it’s doubtful there will be comprehensive abortion access on campus in less than three months. The CUNY Rising Alliance is a group of dedicated students that take matters on campus into their own hands throughout the City Universities of New York. I had the pleasure of speaking with a member of the Rising Alliance, representing Pills4The People, the movement championing reproductive rights on campus. The Alliance can oftentimes be found on the second floor of the North Academic Center, on Thursdays between 12:30 and 1:00pm, where anyone on campus can get more information. When I visited, they were handing out free Plan B, which runs for about $50.00 at local drug stores.
When asked what Plan B actually does, many students on campus didn’t know. They thought it was an abortion pill. It is important to know the science behind what we stand for. Plan B is a preventative morning-after pill that delays or prevents ovulation with the hormone levonorgestrel. This hormone is the same one found in birth control medication, used for the last 35 years. Plan B One-Step has a success rate of 89% when it comes to preventing pregnancy and has been approved by the FDA since 1999.
Earlier this summer, Mayor Adams signed legislation for safe and affordable abortions in New York City. With Roe v. Wade being overturned in 2022, abortion is no longer a constitutional right in the United States. Currently, each state has the right to place and enforce abortion access or restrictions, which has led to numerous preventable deaths. Amber Thurman is one of these deeply unfortunate losses. Thruman traveled from her home in Georgia to North Carolina where she went to a clinic to get abortion pills. Returning home, there were complications with the pregnancy tissue in her uterus, and when brought to the emergency room, the doctors would not perform the 15-minute dilation and curettage procedure that would have removed the remaining tissue, preventing her loss. This procedure could have easily saved Thurman’s life, but because of the recently updated restrictions in Georgia, she lost her life, leaving her young son motherless. Thurman could still be here today, if she was in a country that had not overturned the constitutional right to her body and her life. This tragic case illustrates the importance of safe and legal abortion access nationwide. Although safe and legal abortions are thankfully still available in the state of New York, the right is no longer a promise the state can keep as the country has forfeited the constitutional right nationwide in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson case.
A woman’s control over the choices made in matters concerning her body is a right that this upcoming election challenges in a frightening way, seemingly straight out of a dystopian future. It is an ongoing battle for women’s rights as well as reproductive rights at large, a battle that the upcoming election plays a large part in, and why voting is of the utmost importance, especially for students that attend City College. In a recent piece done here at The Paper, when asked how students felt about the presidential election most students stated that they didn’t stand with either side for numerous reasons, leading to the conclusion that they would not be participating in the election. A lot weighs on this election, and while perhaps some may have conflicting thoughts about our nominees, it is our duty to get out there and vote.
The CUNY Rising Alliance has attempted to start a dialogue with the vice president of student affairs, Ramon De Los Santos, but abortion access on campus seems to be the least of his priorities, since he has multiple times shrugged off their invitations to meet. While Santos may have other pressing matters, students believe reproductive healthcare on campus should be higher on his list. With the college receiving numerous grants in the past few months, now seems the perfect time to fulfill the promises the college has made over the past year. It shouldn’t be up to the students at the Rising Alliance to volunteer their time and energy to raise awareness for reproductive rights on campus, rather it should be the administration working with these dedicated and gifted students to get something off the ground.
The Pills4ThePeople movement led by the CUNY Rising Alliance aims to provide what Barnard College at Columbia University offers for their students. The administration grants access to a number of preventative medications for their students. For anything they don’t offer, Barnard is able to refer students to outside parties to supply them. A contraceptive vending machine is what the CUNY Rising Alliance hopes to have on campus in the coming months. City College’s promise to have abortion pills accessible are so far empty promises. These are the demands the CUNY Rising Alliance movement Pills4ThePeople stand for:
Make BOTH medication abortion pills & emergency contraceptive pills FREE and READILY & DISCRETELY accessible on campus.
Train faculty, staff, and clinical care workers to provide information on abortion services & post-abortion care for students.
Provide clinical and counseling services for pre- and post-abortion care on campus.
Besides access to contraceptives, The CUNY Rising Alliance is a great resource when it comes to reproductive health care for students on campus. They provide students with a safe and comfortable place to discuss topics that unfortunately have become taboo. It is up to the younger generation to eliminate that stigma, as everyone has a right to reproductive healthcare and bodily autonomy. It is an ongoing struggle that will hopefully result in widespread abortion access at not just City College, but Universities throughout CUNY.
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