Society seems to compel young women to choose a career over motherhood. A 2008 study showed 1 in 5 women will have an abortion by the age of 25, and 45 percent of total abortions occur in women between the ages of 18 and 24. This seems to be less of a choice and more of an expectation. We at BU Right to Life would like to ensure that all female students are aware of the resources available to them.
On April 18, 2013, Boston University Right to Life hosted a Pregnancy Resource Forum, designed to raise awareness for pregnancy resources available on campus and potential reforms. Feminists for Life of America President, Serrin Foster, talked at the forum to work with six panelists and students to learn more about the needs of pregnant mothers and fathers on our campus.
Female college students faced with an unplanned pregnancy are usually offered only one option – abortion. Few campuses, including Boston University, offer enough assistance – housing, child care, insurance, emotional support, abortion alternatives – to pregnant students in need. The common question, “How are you going to finish your education by having this child?” addresses an important concern, but why are these seen as two incompatible options?
In an effort to change this situation, Boston University Right to Life wants to help alleviate the economic, practical, and social coercion that pregnant students feel in crisis situations. Women need basic options such as housing, childcare and pregnancy coverage in their student insurance plans. Men need to understand that they are equally responsible for the child they conceived. We do not see these as insurmountable obstacles as a campus or as a society.
We have taken a step in the right direction this year by bringing together minds from many different departments within the university, such as Student Health Services, the Educational Resource Center, the University Service Center and pregnant students on campus.
BU Right to Life has compiled a comprehensive packet detailing all resources for a woman who chooses to carry her pregnancy to term. Hopefully this will empower women on campus to know they have options other than abortion. It will be available online next year, and we hope that it will be distributed to all Residential Assistants.
For those who claim to be for ‘choice,’ it is necessary to back up words with actions. No woman should feel coerced into having an abortion. That is no choice at all.
Annie Pierce, SED junior
Secretary of Boston University Right to Life
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