News

This story has been edited to reflect the numbers that SFLA has updated for accuracy.

BETHESDA, Maryland, January 24, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A survey of the top 200 largest U.S. universities has revealed that 87 have school-sponsored insurance that covers elective abortions, according to the pro-life group Students for Life of America.

In addition, 37 of the 87 abortion-covering plans were found to automatically charge abortion coverage to the students’ tuition bill.

Students for Life of America (SFLA) revealed the findings of the months-long research at the their annual National Conference on Sunday evening. The group said that the given numbers were actually a conservative estimate, as only plans that explicitly included abortion were counted.

“This is not right. Abortion is not healthcare and should not be a prerequisite for learning,” said SFLA president Kristan Hawkins.

Hawkins said that the “most concerning” aspect of the finding is that, through federal student grants, the school’s collaboration with abortion amounts to what she argued is illegal taxpayer funding of the procedure.

“Your eligibility for Federal Pell Grants is determined by the total cost of attendance minus your ability to pay,” said Hawkins at the conference. “Your student health care policy is included in the total cost of attendance. This increases your eligibility for Federal Pell Grants, increasing the amount of money you may receive.”

SFLA said that they have already contacted U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who is awaiting an explanation from the Department of Education.

In July 2010, the group convinced the University of North Carolina (UNC) system to allow students to proactively opt-out of the school’s abortion insurance. However, UNC has refused to modify the default insurance package to exclude coverage of the procedure.