UNC Will Not Offer Abortion Pill

The survey, conducted by the American Life League, an anti-abortion group, found that at least 30 universities did not plan to offer RU-486 in their campus health clinics partly due to the required surgical procedure.

Scott Weinberg, ALL media director, said the survey results prove that college health officials do not think the pill is safe enough to prescribe.

"Colleges are admitting that it is a complicated procedure," Weinberg said. "Colleges aren't willing to take the risks."

The pill, approved for sale in the United States in September, blocks the hormone progesterone, which is needed for pregnancy to continue. The dead fetus is later removed from the woman's body in a surgical procedure.

RU-486 was first distributed to physicians earlier this month but has been available in France for about a decade.

Mary Schlegel, UNC Student Health Service women's health director, said the University will not offer patients RU-486 because Student Health is not certified to perform surgical abortions. "We're not going to have it here because in North Carolina you have to be certified as an abortion clinic," Schlegel said.

But she added that Student Health will refer students requesting RU-486 to the appropriate facilities.

Several other large public schools, including the University of Virginia, also will not provide RU-486.

"We don't plan to have RU-486 available because it is out of the scope of our center," said Christine Peterson, UVa. student health director.

Peterson said students were made aware of and understand the university policy. She said she is not aware of any colleges that offer the pill.

"As far as I know, not many colleges perform the surgical procedure, and you have to perform the surgical procedure to provide RU-486," Peterson said.

Glenn Mones, spokesman for Planned Parenthood, said the organization has received referrals from various organizations, including college clinics.

"We think (RU-486) should be available as an option as widely as possible," Mones said. "The more access that women have, the better."

School officials said their top concern is to ensure the safety of the students, not to prevent access to RU-486. Officials said they plan to continue referring students to health care providers that can safely administer the pill.

Leslie Wolfe, president of the Center for Women Policy Studies, said the presence of trained providers at colleges is an important factor in making RU-486 available to students.

"I would want to know for sure that any such procedure, whether surgical or medicinal, is being performed by trained physicians."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.