{"id":31402,"date":"2026-04-02T11:57:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T15:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=31402"},"modified":"2026-04-02T11:57:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T15:57:02","slug":"university-of-oregon-announces-plan-to-offer-abortion-pills-to-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/04\/university-of-oregon-announces-plan-to-offer-abortion-pills-to-students","title":{"rendered":"University of Oregon Announces Plan to Offer Abortion Pills to Students"},"content":{"rendered":"
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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\u2019s remains.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cundue burden\u201d on students. They also noted the risk of students going to what they called \u201cfake abortion clinics\u201d or Crisis Pregnancy Centers. CPC\u2019s typically offer abortion alternatives and often operate under Christian values. \u201cThe 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,\u201d said Karlie Windle,<\/a> the President of UO Students for Choice. \u201cSomething 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,\u201d said Madeleine Ford<\/a>, UOYDSA\u2019s socialist feminist committee chair.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have seen a lot of universities caving to the pressure the Trump administration has put on them, and I think it\u2019s really important that our university doesn\u2019t do that, and one of the ways to do that is by getting medication abortion on campus,\u201d said Ford.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cexperience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days following a mifepristone abortion.\u201d In the widely publicized case of Amber Thurman<\/a>, Thurman, a Georgia resident, received chemical abortion pills from North Carolina because Georgia\u2019s heartbeat laws prevented her from doing so in her own state. Despite taking the medication as prescribed, Thurman\u2019s 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\u2019s laws did permit doctors to perform the D&C when there is risk to the mother\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

UO spokesperson Angela Seyde released a statement affirming the University\u2019s support of the new policy. \u201cOver the past several years, UHS, ASUO, YDSA\u2019s Socialist Feminist Committee and Students for Choice have evaluated services available,\u201d Seydel wrote. \u201cBased on this evaluation and student request, we will begin offering medication abortion as part of these services in fall 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":31408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nUniversity of Oregon Announces Plan to Offer Abortion Pills to Students<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"University of Oregon to offer abortion pills on campus starting fall 2026, sparking debate over access, safety concerns, and student demand.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/04\/university-of-oregon-announces-plan-to-offer-abortion-pills-to-students\" 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