In a university-wide email sent this Friday, Student Health Services at The New School announced that they are “now providing free medication abortion services and related counseling services.”
“The service is now available to any student who needs it,” Jayne Jordan-Levy, Senior Director of Medical Services at The New School told The Free Press. “And, the reason we are providing it now is that we want to remove as many barriers as possible to reproductive health care access in an increasingly challenging environment.”
Health centers in the country, such as The New School’s SHS, are only able to access medication abortion thanks to a decision made by the Food and Drug Administration in January 2023 — certified retail pharmacies may offer the abortion pill in stores and clinics.
Medication abortion services terminate pregnancy using two medications. “The first, mifepristone, stops the pregnancy, and the second, misoprostol, induces uterine contractions, which allows the body to expel the pregnancy tissue,” the Association of American Medical Colleges reported.
The New School will be dispensing both medications for students.
Alongside medication abortion services SHS claims it will continue providing following reproductive healthcare for New School students :
- IUD insertion and removal
- Nexplanon insertion and removal
- Emergency contraception
- Birth control pills, patch, ring, Depo Provera injections and non-hormonal contraception options
- HIV Prevention: PrEP and PEP
- Condoms (internal and external) and dental dams
- Sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing and treatment
“The provision of medication abortion on campus is integral to educational and healthcare equity for all students regardless of income, gender, or health insurance status,” the email stated.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported “approximately 50% of pregnancies are unintended,” with unintended pregnancies primarily occurring among adolescents, young women and women of racial or ethnic minorities.
Medicated abortion has faced controversy since the overturning of Roe. V. Wade in June 2022 but for some, it might be the most accessible method of pregnancy termination. An article published by NPR earlier this year states that “the pills may make it easier to get an abortion if a clinical provider is too far away or difficult to access.”
13 states in the country currently have a near total ban on abortion in effect. “All of these states have separate laws limiting the provision of medication abortion, although these are not currently applicable because providers have stopped offering all abortion care,” the Guttmacher Institute stated in a report.
The New School’s decision to make medication abortion accessible comes after New York University’s decision to cover elective and medically necessary abortions for NYU students. This includes the dispensing of medication abortion services, once their Student Health Center pharmacy gains certification from the F.D.A. Earlier this year, New York Governor Kathy Hochul also signed the Birth Control Access Act into law and secured abortion pill access for State University of New York and City University of New York students.
For New School students interested in scheduling an appointment for reproductive health care services please visit the SHS Portal or contact SHS at 212.229.1671.