Politicians in California are pushing a bill to compel all of the state’s public universities to dispense abortion pills to students.

At least one of California’s university systems, California State University, is reluctant to participate, and has rightfully expressed concern that its campuses are ill-equipped to deal with the risks of a medication abortion. Those risks are not negligible, nor are they hearsay. According to the US Federal Drigs Authority, at least 22 women have died after taking the RU-486 regimen, and many others have had serious complications, with nearly 600 women experiencing such severe blood loss that they required transfusions.

Pro-life advocates have reacted with horror to the news. Lila Rose, president and founder of the national pro-life organization Live Action, said the bill sends a demeaning message to female students that the only assistance their universities are willing to offer them if they become pregnant is abortion. It also flies in the face of California’s own progressive ideals, she said, by telling young women that the price for staying in school is to end the lives of their own babies.