As College Students Return to Campus, Many Face Harsh Abortion Laws

With half the U.S. states banning or severely restricting abortion, millions of students will be attending college this fall in states without access to abortion care, leaving them with few options to manage unintended pregnancies.

More than half (55%) of the undergraduate students enrolled in college last year were women—and the highest rate of unintended pregnancy in the U.S. is among women 20 to 24 years of age.

Abortion is now illegal in 14 states—including several with large student populations like Texas, Indiana and Missouri. Other states with large student populations—such as Florida and Georgia—prohibit abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, before many know they’re pregnant.

In total, nearly six million students are expected to start or continue their college careers in such abortion-restricted states.

Faced with unintended pregnancies, students in those states will need to travel out of state to obtain abortion care—which may not be feasible for a host of reasons, including financial hardships, schedule disruptions, and fear of consequences. Others may seek to self-manage their abortion through medication or be forced to remain pregnant against their will.

“Fewer and fewer Americans are able to get abortion care in their own state,” according to an analysis by the Guttmacher Institute, which found that one in five patients in the U.S. traveled out of state for abortion care in the first half of 2023.

One college student from Houston told The New York Times in its June 2024 article, “171,000 Traveled for Abortions Last Year. See Where They Went,” that she drove 12 hours to an Albuquerque clinic to get an abortion. “I figured it would be best to go in person and that way I’d know that it was taken care of.” She opted not to obtain abortion pills because if she needed follow up care, she said, “I didn’t know if I could go to a hospital” in Texas.

Even though the Albuquerque clinic covered the cost of her abortion, the student still had to pay approximately $500 for gas, two nights at an Airbnb, and Uber rides to get to and from her appointment.

Class of ’25 Speaks Out About Losing the Right to Abortion

Many students lamented about the harsh changes to abortion laws—and the loss of rights—they’ve already experienced during their college careers. Several rising seniors, who started school in the fall of 2021—before the U.S. Supreme Court took away the constitutional right to abortion in 2022—shared their thoughts with the Center for Reproductive Rights.

• “It was incredibly sad to see a privilege I had always taken for granted growing up in a liberal state become an impossibility in the place I live,” said a student at Tulane University in Louisiana, where abortion is illegal. “This state is rife with problems – violence, climate and infrastructure issues, lack of health care access – how about trying to fix some of that instead of stripping away our rights?”
• Another student shared that she’s been driven to speak out about reproductive freedom while at school and advocate for reproductive rights in Pennsylvania, where she attends Haverford College. While abortion is legal in the state, numerous restrictions make access difficult.
• In North Carolina—which bans abortion after 12 weeks—a Duke University student expressed concern over the state’s worsening reproductive rights landscape and its impact on gender equality moving forward.  “Going back to campus in an abortion-restricted state makes me incredibly anxious and scared about the inherent loss of autonomy you have over your body. It is disappointing to live in a state like North Carolina in that so much work has been done to give women rights over the course of the last 100 years. Losing this freedom of choice threatens to put women back in boxes that we have been struggling to get out of for so long.”

Several States Have Stepped Up to Protect Abortion

Contrary to the actions taken in abortion-restricted states, more than 20 states have acted to protect abortion rights and expand access to care. Those states have enacted measures to expand insurance coverage and the types of clinicians allowed to provide abortion care, increase state funding, make abortion a fundamental right through statute, and protect abortion providers and individuals seeking care outside of their home states through interstate shield laws.

In addition, since Roe was overturned, voters in seven states have come out in favor of abortion rights by either approving state constitutional amendments or defeating measures to restrict abortion rights.

This November, abortion will be on the ballot in several more states as voters decide whether to amend their state constitutions to protect abortion rights.

A college senior returning for her final year at Wesleyan University in Connecticut—a state with abortion protections and expanded access—commented, “I feel really lucky to be a student in a state that has strengthened protections for abortion rights and access when so many of my friends have experienced the direct opposite.”

State Abortion Laws

The Center’s “After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State” digital map  provides details about each state’s abortion laws and policies, classifying states into five categories: Expanded Access, Protected, Not Protected, Hostile, and Illegal. The tool is updated in real time, so check back for any updates on your state.

How to Access Abortion Care

On the Center’s U.S. Abortion Access Resources page, you’ll find links and information to help you access abortion care, including how to locate a clinic, find financial assistance, access and use abortion medication, and obtain legal advice on abortion laws.

• “171,000 Traveled for Abortions Last Year. See Where They Went,” The New York Times, 06.13.24
• “The High Toll of US Abortion Bans: Nearly One in Five Patients Now Traveling Out of State for Abortion Care,” The Guttmacher Institute, December 2023
• College Enrollment Statistics in the U.S., Best Colleges, 02.07.24