The NCAA was right to reexamine its rules to address how colleges should deal with pregnant athletes; before the proposed revision, the collegiate organization left it to coaches and athletic departments at each school to decide subjectively whether to cancel an athlete’s scholarship for time spent disabled during pregnancy. The new rules will prevent discrimination and ensure all colleges act within the law by preventing them from voiding an athlete’s scholarship because of pregnancy.

The new rules are not as much a change as a clarification – any Division I athlete can still receive an athletic scholarship even while on the disabled list for up to a year. Under the proposal, female athletes would simply spend their allowed redshirt year bearing and raising a child.

The new rules prevent colleges from jeopardizing female athletes’ scholarships merely because of pregnancy – that could violate the Title IX rules ensuring equal university treatment for men and women. It is also unfair to punish female athletes for a year of missed play when male athletes can enjoy the same grace period for a troublesome injury.

Athletes always sign contracts promising not to jeopardize their performance in many ways – they pledge to obey rules concerning alcohol and behavior at all times. Whether through contraception or abstinence, women can be reasonably expected to protect their scholarships by preventing pregnancy, but if they do become pregnant by accident, they should not be punished when a male athlete who conceived a child would not be.

The rules still leave open the question of whether female athletes can challenge a school for canceling their eligibility long after pregnancy, however. Though coming back to compete after birthing and nursing a child is no small feat, it has been done – soccer player Christie Rampone came back to play on the U.S. national team after becoming pregnant. But schools should not bear the cost of paying a female athlete’s tuition if she performs below her previous level of play months after birth.

Tough many more questions beyond those concerning athletics go into the decision of whether to have a child, this change will hopefully prevent athletes from feeling pressured into an abortion by their athletic program. It will also take pressure off schools to clarify their policies – an athlete can have a child, but the school will not keep her on scholarship indefinitely.