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Will abortion bans be good for UO undergrad recruiting?

The authoritative Teen Vogue has the take here. A snippet:

… The Supreme Court’s intention to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion legislation that has been law for almost 50 years, will transform so many aspects of daily life in the United States. One will likely be college enrollments. Young people who can get pregnant may reconsider going to school in places where abortion is banned or severely restricted. The choice will likely be particularly agonizing for low-income students, who are less able to afford to travel to seek care in states that still provide the procedure.

Shortly after the decision was leaked several people, including former U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill and activist Amy Siskind, wondered how the decision would affect college students. McCaskill, a former prosecutor and University of Missouri alumnus, says that the state of Missouri has gone to an “extreme place,” pushing legislation to ban abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest and even criminalize physicians.

“If a state does not tell a young woman that they are entitled to terminate a pregnancy after a rape, I’m not sure I’d be spending my money on education in that state,” McCaskill tells Teen Vogue. “It will be interesting to track enrollments at colleges in these states.” …

UO has already stepped up enrollment efforts in Texas. I don’t know if VP Roger Thompson is directing his staff to use Oregon’s abortion laws as a pitch, but it seems like an alternative to focusing on the shrinking pool of HS boys who care about football and have parents willing to pay out of state tuition. And yes I’m trying really hard to be positive today, thanks for noticing.

27 Comments

  1. It's Classified. 06/24/2022

    Granted, I don’t see any west coast states banning abortion, and a large percentage of enrollment are probably from CA/OR… From other states, I’d imagine teens being forced to raise children would be less likely to afford college tuition.

    Maybe incentive for Admin to prioritize funding and expanding childcare options for students/grads/faculty/staff? #WishfulThinking

  2. just different 06/24/2022

    I hope so. Let red states own the libs all they like, because blue states are going to own everything else as a result.

  3. Slowly Boiled IT Duck 06/24/2022

    It will take a few months for states to rearrange their laws, but my guess is that this will have little long term effect. Abortions will continue largely as before (i.e., to be generally accessible but with raw numbers declining and minimal maternal deaths). Certainly the culture wars will continue.

    (I’m very pro-abortion, if it matters, but I don’t think the messaging has been effective.)

    • LibROARian 06/24/2022

      Missouri’s governor has already signed that state’s trigger law into effect, banning elective abortions. 12 other states have similar trigger laws that will go into effect in the next 30 days. As for maternal deaths, the U.S. already has the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world, and our rates have been steadily increasing over the past decade, unlike those of other wealthy developed nations.

      • Slowly Boiled IT Duck 06/24/2022

        The US medical system does not perform well, especially considering what we spend on it. No doubt maternal mortality rates are too high, as are all mortality rates.

        But, this has almost nothing to do with abortion laws. In 1972, pre-Roe, 24 women died from legal abortions in the US and 39 from illegal abortions. This is sad, but an absolute drop in the bucket compared to the number of women (or people) who die from avoidable things like motor vehicle deaths or iatrogenic causes.

        See: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/oct/13/viral-image/deaths-abortions-still-happen-they-declined-sharpl/

        There are many reasonable arguments in favor of abortion rights, but maternal deaths is not one of them. (And again, I say this as someone very pro-abortion.)

    • Compulsory Pessimist 06/28/2022

      “…my guess is that this will have little long term effect…”

      *hysterical laughter*

      • Slowly Boiled IT Duck 06/29/2022

        We’ll see. Certainly no one can predict the future.

        Noting, though, that Texas’ ban has been blocked, at least temporarily: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/can-you-still-get-an-abortion-in-texas/

        And no one paying attention thinks that the blocks in Wisconsin and Michigan that are technically on the books will stand.

        This will take a year or two to settle into the new normal. Bad for the little people, but they’ve always been grist for the mill, and always will be.

  4. honest Uncle Bernie 06/24/2022

    I think you should probably shelve this enrollment gambit.

    Somehow I doubt that this would stop the UO enrollment decline of the past 10 years or so. Teen Vogue may have a following, but I wouold bet most teenagers in flyover country don’t talk “people who can get pregnant” talk.

    I don’t have data, but I would bet that the Texas state schools are doing fine on enrollment. I doubt that the abortion decision is going to stop the outflow/relative decline of people from places like California, New York, Illinois to places like Texas and Florida.

    Oregon will still get plenty of refugees from California, Perhaps the state will find a niche marketing abortion tourism to people in Texas and Florida. But more likely to people in Idaho, a limited market.

    • ODA 06/25/2022

      I do not know HUB,
      Sure Oregon may not benefit much, but I would bet that states like Texas and Florida will see a dip… Perhaps even Wisconsin, Ohio, Tennessee, and Bama will see a drop. IF the stat that ~70% think it should be between a doctor and patient, or as other polls had “not illegal” to 6 weeks (eg. 26% of respondents say illegal or illegal with exceptions, leaving the 20% it depends (?if it is my daughter or son at college?) in the not illegal category). Then I think that the states that threaten a Murder rap as determined by deputized vigilante Rangers, when using plan B over the phone, and may be considered murder if they find out you left the state for the procedure…. I am not sure who (except for the most ardent and devout) will send there kids into that possibility (and international students may well think the same?).

      We all know that “my” kids are not the ones doing it, but just in case the northeast, the three west coast states or Illinois have some pretty good schools…. But the weather is better out here.

  5. Anonymous 06/25/2022

    The cynicism of this group is staggering. For some of you, I know in the real world you’re thoughtful caring people. But Jesus. Everyone you know with a uterus just had the highest court of this country say that we do not get to decide what we do with our bodies. The hurt of that is deep.

    I would hope to see a critic of the weak bullshit statement released by Schill.

    I’m disappointed to see this discussion instead.

    • just different 06/26/2022

      Yup. I’m fed up with sanctimonious posturing as neutral and perfunctory laments about division, all while the anti-democratic minority do everything they can to make life miserable for everyone else because in their tiny twisted minds that means they’re “winning.”
      ___
      This is not about differing values. It’s about selfish, unpatriotic grievance and resentment which cannot be appeased through any reasonable means. Screw ’em.

  6. vhils 06/25/2022

    In poor taste, even for you Bill.

  7. Disgusted 06/26/2022

    I have to agree with Anonymous here. As a person with a uterus who had a safe, legal abortion at 16 in the 70’s, at a clinic within easy driving distance and at a cost a 16 year old could afford herself, without parental involvement, and without having to be screwed around with stupid “counseling sessions” nor stupid, useless ultrasounds, I find much of this discussion disappointing at the very least. This is HORRIFIC and OUTRAGEOUS. PERIOD. Only people without uteri and/or with plenty of cash around to travel out of state, lose work, deal with child care while out of state, etc etc, can blithely make ignorant and, frankly, cruel comments like I see here.

  8. Had 1 Too 06/26/2022

    Have to agree with Anon and Disgusted. It was 1982. I was a terrible drug addict and the man was a violent alcoholic. I couldn’t take care of myself…let alone a baby. I had a safe abortion that was free. Now I try and pay that back with donations every year to Planned Parenthood. Every time I write that check, I think about how things could have been and I’m so grateful. Now I’m just scared for all those women out there.

  9. Frustrated 06/26/2022

    From WaPo:
    .
    “ Roe’s gone. Now antiabortion lawmakers want more.
    On the heels of their greatest victory, antiabortion activists are eager to capitalize on their momentum by enshrining constitutional abortion bans and pushing Congress to pass a national one, prohibiting abortion pills, and limiting people’s ability to get abortions across state lines.”
    .
    SBITD: You are so very, very wrong. This is the beginning of the attempt for a small and very vocal minority (who also happen to hole a LOT of seats in Congress and 5 seats on SCOTUS) to roll back all progressive or “merely” civil/human rights laws and reforms made in the last century and further (let’s get rid of the 40 hour work wee while we’re at it and child labor law bans).
    .
    Glad to hear you are pro-choice (are you sure?). However, you are very narrow in your concept of what this repeal means for all women and girls (and anyone who loves them) and your attitude and your claims are anything BUT pro-choice.

    • Slowly Boiled IT Duck 06/27/2022

      To clarify, I didn’t say I was pro-choice. I said I was pro-abortion. It’s a subtle but significant difference. Every abortion you approve of, I almost certainly would as well, and I’d be happy as a taxpayer to pay for them all.

      I don’t think that children who will lead awful lives should be brought into the world. Having a mother who doesn’t want you certainly qualifies.

  10. Honest Dead Bernie 06/26/2022

    And you wonder why liberals are losing. They complain about the dumbest things like Harbaugh just did. Meanwhile conservatives get in line and vote accordingly because they see the end game. Liberals still complaining about Bernie who torpedoed any chance of filling the Supreme Court with liberal justices because they couldn’t get over their own selfishness to see the long game the other side was playing against them. Same thing happened in 2000 when Nader’s Green Party siphoned votes from Gore giving the election to Bush and endless war. But please feel content standing on your soap box telling about a duopoly. The right is laughing at you all the way to the Supreme Court.

    • Ticai 06/27/2022

      Enough with the bullshit about liberals losing. I’m not liberal but a moderate democrat. The margin in favor of dems has been in the millions for most recent elections, yet Republicans keep taking seats, installing justices through trickery, and making it harder and harder for people to vote. Democracy has been hollowed out and the rights of my family and yours are now being trampled on. It’s entirely obvious to me that we’ll have political violence next.

  11. Slowly Boiled IT Duck 06/26/2022

    “Same thing happened in 2000 when Nader’s Green Party siphoned votes from Gore giving the election to Bush”

    Sigh. I remember the endless vicious carping about that. Lots of people telling me that I wasn’t _really_ a Democrat. Took a few more years, but I finally realized that they were right. So much for infighting.

    • just different 06/27/2022

      I don’t often agree with SBITD, but I think the Dems’ scapegoating of Nader was disgraceful. EVERY third-party candidate got more votes than the eventual margin of victory. The entire Florida election was a nuclear shitshow, but sure, it’s all Nader’s fault.

      • Slowly Boiled IT Duck 06/27/2022

        After a week or so, I finally realized what “SBITD” stands for.

  12. Honest Dead Bernie 06/27/2022

    Considering liberals would be begging for a climate activist like Al Gore as president now, you had your chance but it wasn’t enough so you voted Nader. How did that work out? Oh yeah War.

  13. moss defender 06/28/2022

    Ah yes the dems have more treats and promises for the B. Sanders crowd…..the new mantra should be free universities and unlimited free abortions while in school…in the fine print add language that
    university researchers get the spinal cords for research……to cast a wider net consider changing name of Portland to Abortland

  14. Had 1 too 06/29/2022

    MD, please stop. That last entry is pretty awful.

    • moss defender 06/30/2022

      you weren’t required to read it…. universities love parts of life forms to experiment with…i used to work in Huestis Hall a secretive house of horrors

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