Imagine a young sophomore. She’s a couple of weeks late on her period and anxiously visits The Student Health Services (SHS) for a pregnancy test. It’s positive. She rushes back to her dorm room panicked, overwhelmed and unsure of what to do next. She opens her laptop and searches for pregnancy options through the SHS website. She finds three tabs: “Prenatal Care,” “Adoption Resources” and “Abortion.”
She clicks “Prenatal Care” first, hoping to see what support might exist if she were to keep the baby. Instead, she finds a short disclaimer: “SHS does not offer prenatal care services. SHS providers can confirm pregnancy, discuss options in pregnancy and refer for local services. Prenatal care for students continuing pregnancy can be found using the provider locators on a student’s individual insurance plan.” She then clicks “Adoption Resources,” and even fewer words appear: “SHS does not offer adoption services. SHS providers are able to confirm pregnancy, discuss options in pregnancy and provide information about local resources.”
Finally, she clicks “Abortion.” Suddenly, the page is full. The information about abortion options is detailed, organized and reassuring. The website links directly to organizations such as I Need An A and Abortion Finder. It explains logistical steps and even offers financial support: Students from abortion-restricted states can receive reimbursement for travel and lodging of up to $3,000 per year. At the 5Cs, abortion is accessible and supported. Meanwhile, pursuing motherhood or adoption feels isolating, impractical and discouraging.
At this point, the message is clear: If she wants to keep the baby, she is on her own. No one is forcing her choice, but an institution does not need to force decisions in order to shape them. All they have to do is structure the system in a way that guides decisions, and that’s exactly what the 5Cs have done for pregnant students. In offering pregnant students no alternatives to abortion, the 5Cs have failed to provide true freedom of choice to their student body. The 5Cs must provide holistic information and resources to women, along with transparent accommodation policies that align with Title IX protections.
Pro-choice advocates emphasize abortion access as a necessary condition for reproductive freedom, but it is crucial we remember that reproductive freedom also includes the choice to carry a pregnancy to term without being punished for it. Supporting women means supporting choice; sometimes, that choice is to give birth to a child. In presenting one option that is carefully mapped and funded while reducing others to disclaimers, SHS is not offering students true reproductive choice. It is favoring a particular outcome — the less expensive one — and nudging students to make a decision in favor of the 5Cs’ finances.
If a student doesn’t want an abortion, SHS and its website leave them with an array of unanswered questions. There are no clear answers as to whether a student can remain enrolled full-time, take medical leave without penalty, get housing accommodations or attend classes while pregnant. Moreover, there is no information about after childbirth — no centralized resource page, no clear explanation of academic protections, no reassurance that choosing not to have an abortion does not mean forfeiting an education. So, students are left frightened and wondering if they are incapable of having both a child and a degree. This is not a system that facilitates true gender equality.
Educational institutions that receive federal funding, like the 5Cs, are federally mandated to stand for gender equality and therefore must ensure that pregnancy does not function as a quiet exclusion mechanism. Even if SHS cannot provide prenatal or adoption services directly, it has a responsibility to provide clear, accessible information so students can make informed decisions without fear.
Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programs is prohibited. This includes discrimination based on pregnancy status and parental status. Expectant mothers are legally entitled to continue participating in classes and extracurricular activities. They cannot be pressured to withdraw against their will. They are entitled to reasonable accommodations, excused absences for pregnancy-related conditions and the opportunity to make up missed work.
After medical leave, mothers must be allowed to return to the same academic standing that they held before. SHS has neglected to openly provide any acknowledgements or reassurances of these rights for 5C students — there is no centralized pregnancy resource page outlining Title IX rights, no clear guidance for students who choose to continue a pregnancy.
Rights that pregnant students do not know about are rights that they cannot exercise. When an institution fails to inform its students of their Title IX protections, it effectively denies those protections in practice. So in failing to provide even basic informational support, SHS falls short of its obligations to pregnant students under federal law.
The fact that a student-run organization, Cradling Love, currently does more to support students navigating pregnancy and motherhood than the institution itself underscores a failure on the part of the 5Cs. I have seen this firsthand through my involvement with the club; we volunteer regularly with organizations such as Generation Her and Growing Pains, assisting with childcare while teen and student moms receive resources, supplies and an empowering community.
Our work centers on destigmatizing student motherhood and offering practical guidance that the institution fails to provide. If a student club can provide directories to local pregnancy help centers, assistance navigating campus policies and accommodations, a list of lactation rooms at the 5Cs and a list of national resources, I have an inkling that SHS’s “patient-centered healthcare with a professional and compassionate approach” can do a lot better.
SHS should provide a pregnancy resource page that includes options and directions for prenatal care referrals, adoption counseling resources, an explanation of Title IX protections and clear information about academic and housing accommodations. Otherwise, at the very least, it should direct students to clear places in which they can easily find this information. Choice requires more than options in name. It requires a generous distribution of resources and support so an individual can make a fully informed decision.
Grace Rutherford PO ’28 is passionate about clinical psychology, adores the 1998 West End production of Cats and wants lots of kids.