Women’s rights and health at risk with abortion pill ban

Kacsmaryk’s ruling suspends the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone.

STAFF WRITER KATHLEEN MOOTZ

Women across the United States have fought for the right to have an abortion for decades, and now with clinical abortion becoming less likely due to the restriction on abortions, women turn to a pill called mifepristone. One of the uses for the pill is to stop a pregnancy. It can be prescribed by a doctor, nurse, or health center. The pill works to stop the pregnancy from growing, essentially terminating it, it also can be used for cancer treatment.

On April 7, Federal Judge of the Northern District in Texas Matthew Kacsmaryk issued his ruling on the mifepristone pill that could halt production and distribution nationwide.

This ruling has caused upset among citizens all across the U.S., as abortion access is becoming more and more restricted within the states. People get abortions for many different reasons, not just to end the pregnancy. In some instances, women get abortions because they could have a health condition that would make it deadly for them to give birth to the child, or they could live in an environment that would not be good to raise a child in.

No matter the reason, abortion is a necessary part of health care, and this ruling bypasses federal systems put in place that ensure that medications are safe for public use. Kacsmaryk’s reasoning behind the ban is that the drug is not safe, the FDA however states that the pill has been approved for over twenty years and is safe to use in the first ten weeks of pregnancy. It has been regarded as one of the safer drugs to use and researchers say it is safer than Tylenol.

Furthermore, Kacsmaryk issued a ban on sending any abortion medication through the mail. He managed to bring back the Comstock Act which was passed in 1873. The act was designed to prohibit obscene materials which includes contraceptives and abortifacients.

“I think it is absorbed and completely unacceptable for anyone to be making decisions about someone else’s body,” said Ella Jensen, a second year dance major. “It is unacceptable and unethical and it goes against the constitution,” she continued.

Jensen touched on how the ban of mifepristone effects how other medications could be overturned and ultimately taken off the market. “There are already issues with people accessing healthcare in general, having access to medication like the abortion pill is really important not just for our health but the fact that we deserve to make decisions about our bodies,” she said.

Mia Dalton, a third year english literature major commented on what she thought of one person having the right to decide what is best for all woman. “No one person should have the right to de- cide what is best for women, especially not men,” she said. “Woman are individuals and having an abortion is an individual choice that should be affordable and offered worldwide.”

Taking the pill off of the market would interfere with FDA’s responsibility to ensure the safety of drugs. People are asking the courts to allow the FDA to do what they have always done to protect public health and regulate drugs for use. “If courts can overturn drug approvals without regard for science or evidence, or for the complexity required to fully vet the safety and efficacy of new drugs, any medicine is at risk for the same outcome as mifepristone,” the FDA stated.

The Supreme Court decided on Friday, April 14, to temporarily keep the ban in place until it can be reviewed further.

“I think banning the abortion pill is absolutely horrible and terrifying at the same time” said third year communication studies major Julia Zavala. Zavala added that if judge has the power to ban this type of drug, “What comes next? Actual birth control.”

Nothing to do; Seawolves find campus bare on weekends

parent lack of interest to be on campus on the weekends.

JAKE RENTERIA STAFF WRITER

If you stay on campus over the weekend at Sonoma State, you are more likely to find older people walking their dogs than students walking around. It is well known around SSU that there is nothing to do in Rohnert Park and the campus can be very quiet.

Sonoma State does a good job of promoting itself as very student friendly, with plenty of on campus housing as well as a beautiful outdoor campus. Even with this, there seems to be an ap -

While campus is generally filled during the week, weekends can have SSU looking like the summer. The main reason for this is the amount of students living on campus that go home for the weekend. A large number of students are from around the Bay Area, it’s not too long of a drive to make a quick trip home. This leads to empty parking lots, less attendance for sports games, and lack of overall events for people to participate in.

Grad student Madison Moreno, who lived on campus in 2019, recalled her weekends at SSU. She said, “During my freshman year of college at Sonoma State, I recall there being a lot more events on campus, specifically on the weekends, such as Snowma Globe. Which was an event where snow was brought to the Green Music Center for students to enjoy and play around with their friends. I also used to always enjoy spending my afternoons in Charlie Brown’s Cafe, which sadly hasn’t reopened since covid.”

According to Sonoma State’s website, 34% of the student body lives on campus. The problem with this information is that Sonoma’s student population ranks in the bottom five of all CSU’s. Especially after the effects of COVID-19, SSU’s enrollment has taken a steep drop. This has caused a noticeable lack of attendance around campus.

SSU may have better luck keeping students on campus if their were more places open for students to go. The popular on campus pub Lobo’s doesn’t stay open on Saturday or Sunday. With the library closing at 5 p.m. on Saturdays and the gym closing at 7 p.m., that leaves the main place students eat at, The Kitchens, as the only place that students might gather at. Students may not see a point to being on campus with such little places to go to.

Senior Dion Roddey said, “No one seems to be on campus during the weekends, Sonoma should definitely do a better job having more events to pull people in.” Many activities put on by SSU seemed to be pushed to during the week, which makes it hard for students with busy schedules to attend and seemingly leaves weekend events sparse.

If Sonoma wants to see a higher percentage of engagement by students at the end of the week, they need to make more of a reason to stay on campus. Events give people something to look forward to with their friends. Getting people out of their dorms livens up campus for everyone. Opening up places like Lobos that bring people together would contribute to a more filled campus. Returning campus to a livelier state takes time, and SSU itself needs to put more of an effort into what it can offer with their student events and on campus activities.