How much is this likely to affect colleges with respect to graduate students, including both domestic and international graduate students? That is another angle that some colleges may have to adjust for.
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The question about graduate students adds a whole 'nother layer to this issue, in my opinion.
It is rare for someone to plan a pregnancy during undergrad. It is pretty common for someone to plan a pregnancy during grad school. At the very least, many grad students are married or in other stable partnerships who would be open to procreating together should a pregnancy occur.
Our first child was born shortly after I completed undergrad, and spouse was in grad school. Our second child was born at the end of my first year of grad school, while spouse was a postdoc. (We are the same age, but I delayed attending college by 6 years).
Once there’s an openness to carrying a pregnancy to term, that can really complicate things. I could see an undergrad deciding to terminate a pregnancy no matter what, and going to whatever lengths necessary to do that. Could be pretty simple, depending on their resources. Should that person later marry and go to grad school, they may be open to becoming a parent. Then the healthcare becomes very thorny indeed.
If spouse and I lived far away from abortion care and were even capable of pregnancy at this stage, I’m sure we’d be pretty worried about an oops. If we were hoping to have more children, we’d be freaked out. It DEFINITELY would have influenced our decisions about where to attend grad school.
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Students starting college this fall don’t have time to wait it out. Others can see what happens in the upcoming elections. Those ought to show a glimpse into the future.
Even in Deep Red areas, I doubt the majority at many colleges support the change in the law, but that doesn’t help the students or state residents out. Some colleges are “trapped.” PA is fortunate to have NJ, NY, and MD as border states if things change here.
For now, I think it’s a worthy consideration for parents and students to work into their equation of where to go, esp if they aren’t Pro-Life themselves, but even if they are mostly (like I am), what if rape or medical issues were involved? I guess those who believe in no exceptions shouldn’t have a problem in any state.
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EXACTLY. I know what’s right for me and my family, but I do not know what is right for someone else’s family and I do not think I should judge or choose for them. Only myself.
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My daughter heard about Roe vs. Wade being overturned from the Supreme Court leak in early May about a week before she had to make a decision on where to attend Graduate School. She ended up choosing a school in a state that will continue to have the same abortion access, but it did not play any part in her decision. But it was the only one of her top 3 that will still have the same abortion access. She cared much more about the research being done, the lifestyles of the Graduate students, the weather, housing options, and the student outcomes in those programs.
There have been a couple of posters who have suggested that they would withhold their money for funding a student’s education in some states due to Roe vs Wade being overturned, but my kids had fully funded undergraduate options in Red and Blue states and have been able to easily live financially independent of my wife and I since starting college. It just makes me wonder how those posters would have dealt with having less control over their student’s college decision.
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Understood. I just hope those decisions aren’t made out of animosity toward red states, or to spite / punish the red states.
That’s been bothering me too, when some parents are talking about crossing colleges off their children’s list.
It’s not the parents that are going to college. Of course it’s fine to give your children advice, but it should ultimately be their decision.
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I stated that my children are adults and it’s their decision. It’s also my decision to fund medical school. A gift the vast majority of potential doctors do not enjoy. I can and will make my decision based on which state will receive my $300,000+ And then as adults they are free to make their own decision. And for the record, the decision will absolutely be made as animosity to particular legislative decisions in particular states. The more egregious and potential harmful - the more likely I am to not send my money to the state. Elections have consequences - sometimes monetary ones.
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I’m going to bookmark this reply. 
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Many, if not most med school applicants only receive one acceptance. What will be your position on paying for med school if your kid only has an acceptance from a red state? I know you said it depends on how extreme their laws are, but does that still stand even if the only acceptance is from an extreme state?
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It’s more likely my kid will get no acceptances than a single acceptance to Texas =- a state notorious of in state preference, so we’re pretty far in the weeds of a hypothetical, several years out and essentially discussing fictional scenarios. But playing the game - yes it stands. I’m not sending my money to Texas - a state who’s laws are so screwed up people right now are having trouble filling prescriptions for medications needed for NON-abortion medical issues. They are continuing to actively pass laws causing harm well beyond the current need for abortion access.
States with trigger laws would have been much tougher right now as some have already paused enforcement, so as I said - much will be determined on how states react in the next months/years.
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While I agree that choice of college should ultimately be the student’s decision, my husband and I are the ones funding their education. When making their lists, we have reviewed them to ensure they have chosen schools that 1) fit our budget and 2) they have a solid reason for adding it (i.e., choosing a school solely b/c it has a good football team and party reputation would be a big no).
I have two boys in college now. Prior to leaving home (well, before that even), we had discussions with them about sex and contraception. They know that they have a responsibility to protect themselves, as much as a woman does, to prevent not just pregnancy, but also STDs. Ultimately, it is not for them to decide what happens if there is an unplanned pregnancy so they need to make wise decisions. One is in a state where abortion is solidly protected, but the other is in OH, so he needs to be especially careful. Regardless, even if abortion were legal where my sons are, that’s not to say the woman would agree/want an abortion were she to end up pregnant. That is something we have emphasized with our sons all along.
My girls both firmly believe in women’s/human rights. For a variety of reasons, neither had/has a desire to go to schools in traditionally conservative areas. One has already graduated and lives in CA where she went to college. The other, a rising senior in high school, had already narrowed her search to colleges in the Northeast and CA, as well as Chicago. The recent Roe v Wade decision, as well as a variety of other issues surrounding guns, LGBTQ, etc, has only reinforced her decision to focus on colleges where she had narrowed her search. So no need for me to even entertain the notion of crossing colleges off based on “politics” tho I have pointed out that one of her choices needs to be removed due to cost.
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Some parents with such viewpoints may prefer their kids to go to college in a more restrictive state.
I agree, though many of those where we live are also some who don’t believe in college at all, not at all for girls, or want strictly religious colleges. I doubt much will change. Nothing significant anyway.
Time will tell.
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My daughter attends grad school in a red state. Her medical choices are pretty much the same as they were when she was in undergrad (travel 45 minutes to a purple state for anything not available in her town). As far as her giving her money to the red state, it really goes the other way. Her program is funded, they give her extra money for travel and research, they pay her for extra things like panels, info sessions, teaching workshops. My money is not going there but it used to (undergrad) and I didn’t feel I was supporting the evil empire.
There are other issues I think they do a very good job of managing on campus (if not in the entire state). Gun control, LBGQ rights (I won’t add the other letters as I don’t think they are totally there yet), gender balance and treating women fairly in employment.
Will she continue to live there after graduation? I doubt it but mostly because I don’t think the employment opportunities will be there.
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I don’t think Roe v. Wade affected DD22’s thinking on college choices. We come from a very blue part of a blue state. I would have liked her to consider schools in a red state (all in blue enclaves). But I’m afraid she was “scared” and apprehensive of undergrad life in a red or even purple state long before Roe was overruled.
It makes me worried for the future of the country. That my daughter and many of her classmates are closed off in their thinking.
As for friends’ daughters going off to college in abortion ban states, their thinking (I don’t pry - this is what is volunteered) is that their daughters are close enough to them that they will text or call immediately should there be a problem. And they will help their daughters regardless of the consequences. All are full pay families.
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While I agree that choice of college should ultimately be the student’s decision, my husband and I are the ones funding their education. When making their lists, we have reviewed them to ensure they have chosen schools that 1) fit our budget and 2) they have a solid reason for adding it (i.e., choosing a school solely b/c it has a good football team and party reputation would be a big no).
I agree. While selecting which college to attend is ultimately up to the student, if the parents are paying the bill, the parents do get a say in where the student applies and later enrolls in.
Any student who doesn’t like those terms and conditions is welcome to pay for college themselves. For example, if my kid came to me and said, “I want to go to $75,000/year Expensive University and you need to pay for it even though you can’t afford it,” I’d be telling Kiddo, “Sorry, but that’s outside the realm of possibility. Here’s dozens of other schools which are more affordable which you COULD attend instead. Try one of those. But if you insist on Expensive University, you’ll have to pay for it yourself.”
I’d be saying that regardless of the abortion laws in the state which houses $75,000/year Expensive University.
The abortion topic is just one of many factors that families will consider when deciding where to apply to and attend college.
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Perhaps it goes beyond just thinking, but (after hearing politicians there speak) considering that political views there will have a noticeable effect on quality of life for her there. The fears about quality of life may or may not be real (or may be more real in some areas and aspects than others*), but when the news (often mostly opinions) tends to play up outrage and fear (which some politicians provide convenient quotes for while speaking to their bases), it is no surprise that fears about quality of life get increased, so that political differences are no longer just politics to more and more people.
*Example relevant to this thread: abortion restrictions could affect medical care even when someone has no intention of an elective abortion: Abortion laws spark profound changes in other medical care | AP News
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The article also said that the girl found the ruling "incredibly disheartening” and that while she had initially not wanted to choose a school based on “regional politics,” the ruling “scrambled her calculations” and “upset” her, and that she was now “torn” over whether to apply to the school you reference.
Not sure how you can go from there to a conclusion that she doesn’t share her mother’s views on this issue. It sounds like they are in alignment on the issue of abortion generally, but the girl is grappling with balancing her beliefs with her desire to attend her dream school.
Unfortunately, opinion polls are irrelevant in states that have passed or will pass draconian criminal prohibitions including “aiding and abetting” laws. Likewise, given the makeup of many state governments, it won’t matter if most people aren’t “eager to redirect already-strained police efforts toward tracking and prosecuting abortion seekers.” This is especially true in states that follow the Texas plan by creating private civil causes of action, effectively turning enforcement power over to private zealots.
In short, it isn’t a mischaracterization to say that attending school in certain states not only involves unnecessary health risks, but also real and tangible legal dangers for female students as well as those who might dare assist them. That these states happen to be red isn’t surprising, but it is really beside the point.
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