Anonymous University of Michigan students think the taxpayer-subsidized school should be providing escorts and free rides to Planned Parenthood abortion clinics in Ann Arbor.
In an 18-2 secret ballot vote, the UM Central Student Government approved AR-14-104 late last month to urge the University Health Service to adopt a “Program for Accessible and Reproductive Care” policy, Michigan Daily reports.
“It is not a secret that we are in a moment in American political history where reproductive rights, people’s rights to choose their medical care and to choose the trajectory of their life, are being ruthlessly attacked by the federal government,” UM junior Fiona Dunlop said in support of the measure.
“There is a non-zero chance that today you will hear from other public commenters who will claim that reproductive justice is not worthy of CSG funds, that women’s rights are not important enough to protect,” she said. “I should not have to tell you that that is untrue.”
The resolution acknowledges that UM provides reproductive healthcare and medical abortions on campus, but argues Michigan Medicine isn’t free, and it doesn’t provide surgical abortions. While students can take a bus or ride share to two Planned Parenthood clinics nearby that offer a full menu of abortion options, “[S]tudents may not feel comfortable taking a ride share service, with a driver they are unfamiliar with, or the bus to Planned Parenthood,” the resolution reads.
“Many University of Michigan students assume the financial burden of paying for their tuition, housing, and other necessities,” according to the resolution. “These expenses add up and it would be worthwhile for these students to at least have easy access to free and equitable reproductive healthcare services.”
That’s why the student government voted to urge University Health and Counseling “and administrators to implement a program that reimburses students for their ride costs to and from Planned Parenthood AND provides students with options for safe rides to and from Planned Parenthood,” according to AR-14-104, which is sponsored by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.
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Engineering senior Charles Klunder explained why the ask is offensive to students who adhere to religious tenets opposing the practice of abortion.
“I believe that all humans are made in the image of God, that we are known by God before we are born,” Klunder said. “God forms us in our mother’s womb, and God says that it is wrong to kill any innocent being, and that God hates the hands that shed innocent blood. Given this, I think anyone who is in support of abortion, and by extension, this resolution, is complicit in murder.”
The resolution isn’t the first time students have demanded free rides to Ann Arbor’s abortion clinics, which will soon be consolidated from two into one.
The CSG considered a similar proposal in January 2024 that called on the university’s public safety division to provide low-cost travel for abortions that was ultimately shelved over a variety of concerns, from overwhelming the safety division to forcing those who oppose abortions to subsidize the procedure.
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“I think that no one should be forced to cooperate with something that they believe to be a grave moral evil,” junior Luke Estey, one of seven speakers who opposed the resolution, told Michigan Daily. “Students and donors would be materially cooperating with abortions if this resolution passed. Moving forward, I would, of course, support legislation that would facilitate access to nonabortion women’s health care.”
In addition to students and donors, UM received $424.5 million from Michigan taxpayers for the current fiscal year, which included a 2.6% increase to $365.6 million for the Ann Arbor campus.