As federal courts weigh the future of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone, New York is moving to guarantee students at public colleges and universities access to abortion pills.
Gov. Hochul committed Thursday night to sign legislation requiring the State University of New York and City University of New York to prescribe abortion medication — which make up more than half of all abortions nationwide — or partner with a provider before the fall semester.
The measure was introduced as part of the governor’s executive budget in January, but passed the state Assembly and Senate last week.
“The legislature recognized the urgency of these bills and passed them already,” Hochul said as she announced a tentative state budget deal with legislative leaders at the State Capitol. “I look forward to signing them in the coming days.”
Once the bill goes into effect on August 1, all SUNY and CUNY campuses will be required to employ or contract staff who can prescribe abortion pills on campus, or streamline the referral process to local or telehealth providers.
The law also orders the Boards of Trustees of both systems to submit reports every two years to the governor and legislature relaying how they provide access to medication abortion.
Its expected passage comes after years of student advocacy and proposals that have stalled in the legislature since 2019. The original bill applied only to SUNY, but was expanded to include CUNY last year, according to one of its sponsors Assemblyman Harvey Epstein.
“It’s really critical that we make something that’s legal available,” Epstein said. “I think this is a huge victory for reproductive justice in New York state.”
College students told The News earlier this year that the bill would help them avoid long wait times for reproductive health care and access the drug before it is too late in the pregnancy for a medication abortion.
The requirement could also help alleviate demand across the state’s clinics for the general public, which have seen an uptick in use since a conservative majority of the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion last year — leading more than a dozen states to enact near-blanket bans.
Brigid Alliance, a service that provides logistical support for people traveling to abortions, reported a 60% increase in clients coming from those states to New York.
Students can also face barriers to medication abortion related to transportation, prohibitive costs or trouble navigating student health insurance coverage. Some colleges limit the number of students allowed cars on campus, and the furthest school in the state from a clinic is more than 68 miles away, according to the New York-based, student-led Reproductive Justice Collective.
The measure comes a week after the Supreme Court ruled Friday that mifepristone can remain on the market as appeals in a case to restrict its use are exhausted.
Mifepristone — one pill in a two-part sequence typically used to induce an abortion — is safe and effective, and has been used by more than 5 million people since the FDA approved it more than two decades ago.
Last October, Barnard, a women’s college, announced it would train campus providers to offer abortion medication by fall 2023. California and Massachusetts have already passed similar legislation to prescribe the pills at public university health centers.