By admin 
A right means little when the distance, cost and demands of daily life make it impossible to exercise.
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When I testified before the Assembly Higher Education Committee in support of a bill to provide medications for abortions at California’s community colleges, I told lawmakers about a fellow student whose nearest Planned Parenthood was more than two hours away. When she experienced an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy, she was working multiple jobs, attending school full-time and did not have reliable transportation.
What should have been a straightforward healthcare decision became overwhelming because care existed in theory — not within reach.
That is the gap the legislation, Assembly Bill 2540, seeks to close. The bill stipulates that community colleges provide access to medication abortion, though it does not specify that this service be free to students.
As a Sacramento City College student and Region II legislative affairs director for the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, I have heard repeatedly that access depends not merely on what services exist, but on whether students can realistically reach, afford and understand them.
Community colleges at present are the weak link in providing this necessary medical option at our state-funded campuses. California passed Senate Bill 24 in 2019, requiring University of California and California State University student health centers to provide medication abortion beginning in 2023. Unfortunately, California community college students were excluded from this requirement.
Now, however, AB 2540, authored by Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, D-San Francisco, expands the requirement — mandating community colleges with student health centers to offer access to medication abortion beginning in 2029, if the Legislature appropriates funding.
The bill has passed the Assembly and cleared the Senate Health and Education committees. It is now in the Senate Appropriations Committee, where lawmakers are considering its fiscal impact. According to the Senate Health Committee’s fiscal analysis, the one-time cost per community college health center is estimated at between $75,000 to $300,000 — “or approximately $7 million to $27.9 million across all 93 (California Community College) health centers.”
This is not only about whether abortion is legal. It is about whether care is practically accessible.
In the post-Dobbs era that eliminated a woman’s constitutional right to choose and has left this issue for states, freedom increasingly depends on geography, income, transportation and the ability to take time away from work or school. As federal protections weaken reproductive care and abortion access remains vulnerable nationally, California must ensure that the rights it promises can actually be exercised.
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Community college students often balance classes with jobs, caregiving and serious financial pressure. Leaving campus for time-sensitive care may mean missing work, losing wages, arranging child care or traveling hours to an unfamiliar provider. Delays can turn an already difficult situation into a crisis.
The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office has identified physical and mental well-being among the core social determinants of educational success. A student’s health does not remain outside the classroom. It affects attendance, concentration, finances and whether that student can stay enrolled.
Some may argue that community colleges are different because many students commute or live at home. But commuting does not eliminate health needs. Living with family does not guarantee privacy, reliable transportation, insurance, money for care or a supportive home environment. In many cases, commuting creates additional barriers by placing students farther from campus resources while they navigate work and family responsibilities.
Community colleges also serve many of California’s low-income, first-generation, parenting and historically underserved students. Their rights and futures are not less important because they attend two-year institutions, arrive by bus or car, or plan to transfer.
Many community college health centers operate with limited staff and infrastructure, raising legitimate questions about campus capacity to implement this measure. But AB 2540 does not simply demand that every campus build a new clinic. The amended bill allows access through campus providers, telehealth, contracted agencies, referrals, warm handoffs and partnerships with community health providers. Most importantly, implementation is tied to state funding, protecting colleges from an unfunded mandate.
Where students attend school should not determine whether essential healthcare is within reach.
AB 2540 will not solve every inequity in California higher education, but it would correct a disparity the state created when it extended medication abortion access to UC and CSU students while leaving community college students behind.
California has already recognized that reproductive healthcare supports educational opportunity. Now, lawmakers must ensure that promise includes every public college student.
Claire Densmore is a Sacramento City College transfer student who will study political science, public service and gender, sexuality and women’s studies at UC Davis. She serves as the Region II legislative affairs director for the Student Senate for California Community Colleges and advocates for equitable access to healthcare for California students.
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