After end to Roe v. Wade, students weigh abortion access when applying to college

Sofia Kim Staff Writer

“Some people restrict their college list based on the weather of the state. Having fundamental abortion rights, to me, are comparable to a person not wanting a cold winter,” Naomi Gelfer (11) said. “It’s that simple.”

Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade in a 6-3 decision, reversing the nationwide constitutional right to abortion under the 14th Amendment and granting states the authority to decide their abortion laws. Amidst the ensuing national conversation, members of the Class of 2023 have applied to college and decided where they will spend the next four years, while members of the Class of 2022 have begun to work on their applications for next fall.

Out of the 174 participants in the Class of 2023’s college map, 6.25% are attending colleges in one of the 14 states with no access to abortion — Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, and Missouri — and 27% are going to one of the 25 states with some restriction on abortion. However, the majority of seniors will attend right to abortions.

When Gelfer first began working on her college list, she was interested in Rice University in Houston, Texas for its STEM opportunities. However, Gelfer felt deterred after Texas completely restricted abortions, with no exceptions for rape or in cest. “If a state is adamantly against abortion, it signals to me they belie ve in a law I fundamentally disagree with,” she said. “I feel as though they do not see me as a person deserving of fundamental rights to making their own conscious decisions about their body.”

Audrey Goldberg (11) is also con sidering a state’s decision to ban or legalize abortions while researching colleges. “It definitely influences where I look and will potentially go because I don’t want to feel unsafe in a state that doesn’t support me in my rights,” she said. While Audrey has not ruled out any schools in particular, she is cautious about researching colleges in states that are more con servative, she said.

Most seniors, like Mor gan Bart (12) who is at tending college in North Caro - consider state abortion laws while applying. While Bart feels personally affected by abortion laws, she is excited to have the opportunity to vote and make a difference when at- to restrict abortion but to push it as far as they can, she said. “Many people don’t even know that they are pregnant at the six week mark. It makes an already scary time even

Education Department Chair and Health teacher Amy Mojica said. For example, in the past week, South Carolina passed an abortion ban after six weeks of pregnancy. “It is still a moving target right now and things are changing on a daily basis,” Mojica said.“You could teach something in class and it may have changed within a month.”

Students should understand the state’s right to abortion to look out for their own health, Mojica said. Because there are different options for contraception, it‘s even more important in certain states to have conversations with a partner about using contraception and their risks.

In reality, many students at the school do not have to think about the effects of each state’s decision, Tess said. “At the end of the day, our school is in New York, which protects the right to abortion, and many students are fortunate enough to seek medical care when necessary,” she said. “The people who are really affected by a state’s decision to restrict abortions are mostly lower income communities and people of color.”