The student government of the University of Florida is considering a bill that would establish a $1.5 million fund to cover half of the cost of students seeking out-of-state abortions.
The proposal was introduced this summer after the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that there was no constitutional right to abortion as recognized in Roe v. Wade, pushing abortion policy to state governments.
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In Florida, abortion is currently legal up to 15 weeks of gestation, meaning the bill would only apply to abortions sought beyond that period. The bill says abortions cost up to $750.
The bill was initially put on ice after the Student Government Judiciary Committee indefinitely postponed consideration of the measure. A student senator subsequently filed a complaint with the Student Government Supreme Court, which is set to consider the complaint this semester, Campus Reform reported.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, Student Body President Lauren Lemasters said that because the bill is a legislative branch resolution, it “does not bind the executive branch or any UF entity to any action.”
Lemasters said that as of now, the student government does not even spend student activity fees on contraceptives.
“As head of the executive branch, my administration is committed to putting students first and enhancing the student experience, but our plan is to defer to the medical professionals within the Student Health Care Center on this issue,” she said.
University spokeswoman Cynthia Roldan told the Washington Examiner that the university’s student health insurance plan through United Healthcare covers “abortions that are elective or as a result of complications of a pregnancy” and that the coverage is “subject to state law in which a procedure is conducted.”
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Katie Glenn, the state policy director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and a University of Florida alum, said the text of the bill betrays a significant “lack of understanding” about post-15-week abortions.
“A later-term abortion, especially into the third trimester, can cost over $10,000,” Glenn said. “Just looking at this and then saying, ‘Oh, you know, we’ll cover 50% of $750,’ that’s not the reality of several-day-long procedures, which is what these later-term abortions are.”
Glenn noted that the resolution under consideration at UF specifically says the funds must be used for abortion, but leftover funds can be used for the “Baby Gator” daycare program.
“This is not pro-choice; this is pro-abortion,” Glenn said. “It is favoring abortions and throwing the leftovers (if any exist) towards support for parenting students, and far too often, we see parenting students get no support. It’s one of the big reasons that students are pressured towards abortion because they don’t see resources available.”
The anti-abortion activist said the effort to use student activity fees to pay for out-of-state abortions is “hugely insulting to other students who want no part in this and don’t get a say on what their money’s being spent on.”
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“I think it really hurts the values and environment of the college community to say, ‘This is our priority, and we’re going to put a million and a half dollars behind that priority,'” she said. “How much of a choice are students going to feel like they have with everything pointing towards abortion?”
