June 2022
The Women’s Resources Center (WRC) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is concerned about the impact the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization will have on women and menstruating persons. The WRC works to improve the campus climate for women who are also students by working to address social issues through an intersectional lens, and this ruling directly contradicts WRC’s mission. The WRC is saddened by the Court’s ruling to overturn a nearly 50-year precedent established by Roe v. Wade. The ruling may also have serious implications for other reproductive health options and other rights that impact women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and Black and Brown folx.
Access to safe, affordable reproductive health care is a fundamental right. Limiting access to family planning services such as abortion and contraception could undermine public health and create disproportionate health disparities for our most marginalized community members. In the Turnaway Study, the largest study to examine women’s experiences with abortion and unwanted pregnancy in the United States, researchers at the University of California San Francisco found that persons who menstruate were more likely to experience serious complications from the end of pregnancy including eclampsia and death, more likely to stay in contact with abusive partners, and more likely to suffer anxiety and loss of self-esteem in the short-term after being denied abortion.
The WRC is committed to helping students make informed choices about their reproductive health options and rights by ensuring access to information, resources, and support. Abortion services remain legal and available in the State of Illinois as well as many other states.
The following on-campus and community resources are available to assist students, faculty, and staff as they process the far-reaching impacts of this decision.
UIUC Campus Resources
- Women's Resources Center
Phone: 217-333-3137 - McKinley Health Center
Phone: 217-333-2700 - Counseling Center
Phone: 217-333-3704
Community Resources
- Champaign Urbana Public Health District
Phone: (217) 352-7961 - CU Trauma Resiliency Initiative
Phone: 217-673-7122 - Planned Parenthood - Champaign Health Center
Phone: (217) 359-8022
This statement should not be taken as an official position of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.