skip to Main Content

Supporting Pregnant & Parenting Students on Your Campus

Written by Rebekah Buchholz, WRTL Intern

You’re pro-life, you’re in college, and you are wondering how to be authentically and actively pro-life. Think about where you are. Think about who’s around you. Without a doubt, the students and faculty who surround you on campus have been affected by abortion. And the truth is, abortion giants like Planned Parenthood specifically target women on college campuses.

As a pro-life college student, I spent some time trying to determine the best methods to serve and support pregnant and parenting students on my campus. I attend a Christian university with pro-life policies, which should, in theory, make it easier for students to choose life. Still, it seems most students are unaware of these policies or the support available to them. Instead, pregnant students tend to assume they will face judgment and shame for a pregnancy outside of marriage. They see abortion as an easy answer to their difficult “problem.” Society’s viewpoint surrounding pregnancy in college must change so pregnant students realize they have more than one option.

Pregnant students at your college or university need your support. Imagine finding out you are pregnant when you have your whole life planned out, a plan that probably depends on completing your degree. Pregnant and overwhelmed, is it even possible to finish your education and have a baby? Abortion giants will tell women no, it’s not possible, but that is fine because they can make it all go away.

You have the power to show pregnant students that they can do both, and you can provide them with the support to make it possible. Here’s how.

  1. Look at your college/university’s policies regarding pregnancy. At the very least, Title IX protects pregnant and parenting students in and out of the classroom. Look for various improvements to your school’s policies that could be made and discuss them with school policymakers. Your school’s Title IX coordinator is a great starting point as you research how cases of pregnant and/or parenting students are handled.
  2. Connect with your school’s counseling center, student health center, and other resources provided for students. Look for key information. Where are students referred if they take a pregnancy test at the health center? Are they referred anywhere at all? How does the counseling center handle students who come to them dealing with pregnancy or post-abortive struggles? Work with these departments to publicize and/or stimulate the services pregnant students can receive.
  3. Create a resource guide for pregnant & parenting students and distribute it to all campus departments and residential life. Making these resources easily available to students is essential. Include both on-campus and off-campus resources, including information on local pregnancy centers, food banks, pro-life OB-GYNs, etc.
  4. Advertise your guide and get other students involved! All the work you did cannot achieve anything if no one knows about it. Make known the resources and support available across campus in order to directly impact pregnant students and those who know someone pregnant and/or parenting.

These are only a few ideas of how to support students on your campus, but so many other avenues are out there. Providing support to the pregnant and parenting students on your campus is how we create a society that rejects the idea that having a baby, especially in college, means giving up the rest of your life.

Sources: https://thepregnantscholar.org/title-ix-basics/

Back To Top