The University of Oregon (UO) in Eugene has announced that its University Health Services will offer medication abortion services to university students starting for the Fall semester 2026. This will make UO one of the first universities in Oregon to offer such services. Students at the university (the move does not include faculty or staff) will be able to receive prescriptions for mifepristone and misoprostol for abortions before 11 weeks of pregnancy. Mifepristone blocks progesterone, which is supposed to sustain a pregnancy, while the Misoprostol is used afterwards to expel the fetus’s remains.

The move comes after years of liberal student organizations pushing for the school to offer such services. The groups included the Associated Students of UO, UO Students for Choice, and UO Young Democratic Socialists of America. Currently, students looking for abortion services can travel to the Planned Parenthood Eugene-Springfield Health Center, which is just two miles from campus. However, supporters of the University offering abortion medication on site said the need to travel caused “undue burden” on students. They also noted the risk of students going to what they called “fake abortion clinics” or Crisis Pregnancy Centers. CPC’s typically offer abortion alternatives and often operate under Christian values. “The dynamic of calling an Uber or taking public transportation to Planned Parenthood is just adding so many barriers to a situation which is already very difficult and emotionally heavy,” said Karlie Windle, the President of UO Students for Choice. “Something that is close and students are more familiar with is going to be used more than something that might be considered more comprehensive but is further away,” said Madeleine Ford, UOYDSA’s socialist feminist committee chair.

The UOYDSA also sees the move as a form of resistance to the Trump Administration, which has a number of vocal pro-life advocates, including Vice President JD Vance.

“You have seen a lot of universities caving to the pressure the Trump administration has put on them, and I think it’s really important that our university doesn’t do that, and one of the ways to do that is by getting medication abortion on campus,” said Ford.

Medication abortion, however, is not without its risks. A study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center last April, authored by Ryan T. Anderson found that 10.93% of women who receive medication abortion “experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days following a mifepristone abortion.” In the widely publicized case of Amber Thurman, Thurman, a Georgia resident, received chemical abortion pills from North Carolina because Georgia’s heartbeat laws prevented her from doing so in her own state. Despite taking the medication as prescribed, Thurman’s body did not expel all the fetal tissue, and she developed an infection back in Georgia. She later died after Georgia doctors waited over 20 hours before final completing a D&C, which is meant to clear out the uterus of remaining tissue. Pro-choice advocates held up the case as an example of heartbeat bills killing innocent women. However, pro-life advocates cited it as an example of medical negligence as Georgia’s laws did permit doctors to perform the D&C when there is risk to the mother’s life.

UO spokesperson Angela Seyde released a statement affirming the University’s support of the new policy. “Over the past several years, UHS, ASUO, YDSA’s Socialist Feminist Committee and Students for Choice have evaluated services available,” Seydel wrote. “Based on this evaluation and student request, we will begin offering medication abortion as part of these services in fall 2026.”