Full Letter Text and Co-Signee List Here: tinyurl.com/HUHSabortionaccess
For Harvard Affiliates, form to sign on to the letter: https://tinyurl.com/AbortionAccessCoSign
Dear Harvard University and Harvard University Health Services,
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 to uphold Mississippi's 2018 Gestational Age Act, and 5–4 to overrule the precedents set by both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, allowing states to fully ban and criminalize abortion. Since then, many states across the country have implemented full bans on abortion - some with and many without exceptions for cases of rape or incest. Our home state of Massachusetts codifies and protects the right to abortion amongst other reproductive rights. HUHS already provides care to Harvard students, faculty, and affiliates, and we appreciate your statement affirming as such in the wake of the ruling. However, the Dobbs decision has highlighted the need for abortion and reproductive care to be not only legal but accessible here in Massacusetts. First and foremost, we are asking that Harvard University Health Services open up abortion services, free at the point of care, to students, staff, and faculty, regardless of their enrollment status in Harvard’s health insurance plans.
Currently, the Student Health Fee does not cover abortions provided by Harvard’s Obstetrics and Gynecology services. While those covered by the Student Health Insurance Plan have abortions fully covered, many choose to waive SHIP due to financial strain, redundant coverage with existing insurance, and other reasons. Many essential services including podiatry, gastroenterology, and asthma and allergies are justly covered by the Student Health Fee. As abortion is just as fundamental a right, it should be too, plain and simple.
As greater revenue is needed to provide this additional coverage, we ask that the university allocate necessary portions of the annual distribution from the endowment to do so. We explicitly ask that the Student Health Fee not be raised as the entire point of expanding this coverage is that it is essential and should not put a cost burden, beyond the existing Student Health Fee, on students. If Harvard is to be an example for academia and the country, then it is critical to take this step and to make accessible the reproductive care of abortions to all students so that they may continue their educational journey.
Sincerely,
The Harvard College Democrats and more