We are always opposed to the violence of abortion. However, reducing students' access to abortion, at the expense of other forms of assistance and medical care, is exploitative and constitutes reproductive coercion. Abortion is already free and ubiquitous in California – available on college campuses, at 400 facilities across the state, and via telehealth and a dozen mail-order sources. 

At the same time, student parents face a lack of affordable, accessible childcare, with waitlists of a year or more on campus, high family housing costs, and fewer options for medical care. In maternity care deserts and in HRSA areas, student parents cannot find enough doctors who can safely monitor them through pregnancy, as 1 in 4 California women receive inadequate prenatal care. California is failing to provide the reproductive healthcare women need, and lawmakers need to ensure parity in the choices of pregnant and parenting women as they pursue motherhood.