Students Think Twice about Colleges after States Ban Abortion

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Students Think Twice about Colleges after States Ban Abortion¹

Nina Huang is a California high school student who is thinking about where she wants to go for college. Until recently, she was considering Oberlin College in the state of Ohio. Huang, who plays flute² and piano, hopes to one day also study medicine or law. Oberlin is known for having strong academic and music programs.

But last month, she changed her mind.

"I don't want to go to school in a state where there is an abortion ban," she said.

Ohio is one of the states that now has strong restrictions³ on abortion, a medical procedure that ends a pregnancy⁴.

On June 24, the U.S. Supreme⁵ Court ruled to overturn the 1973 Roe⁶ v. Wade⁷ case that protected abortion rights throughout the United States. The court's decision permits individual states to go back to old rules or put new restrictions on abortion in place.

Huang had been thinking Oberlin's good academic reputation and strong music classes might make it a good fit for her. But not anymore.

Huang is not the only high school student re-thinking their college choices.

Samira Murad is a high school student in New York City. She said she is worried about going to college in a state where she will not be free to be herself. She said, "I'm still finding out who I am ... I don't want to move somewhere I can't be myself because of laws put in place."

‘Dream school' no more

It is still too soon for data to show whether fewer people are applying to college in Ohio and other states that now have strict laws on abortion. But some college counselors⁸ say they are already talking with students who are crossing their "dream school" off their lists.

Daniel Santos runs the Florida-based college counseling service Prepory. "Some of our students," he said, "will not apply to colleges and universities in states which may infringe⁹ on their access to reproductive rights."

Kristin Willmott works with students at a company called Top Tier Admissions in Massachusetts. She said some students are removing schools in Florida and Texas from their application lists because of abortion restrictions. Florida and Texas are among the states with strong anti-abortion laws.

Past controversies¹⁰ did not reduce applications

Although there is no data yet on how the Supreme Court decision may affect application numbers, there are past examples to consider.

Jayson Weingarten works for Ivy¹¹ Coach in New York. He helps students think about colleges. He said that, in 2016, some students told him they no longer wanted to apply to top colleges in North Carolina after the state put a controversial law in place that year. The law restricted which bathrooms transgender people could use.

But many still chose to attend both Duke University and the University of North Carolina, Chapel¹² Hill (UNC). In fact, the number of students who applied¹³ to UNC in 2017 went up by 14 percent compared to the year before.

The state of Texas put a restrictive abortion law in place nearly one year ago. Shahreen Abedin is a spokesperson for the University of Texas' medical school. Abedin said that the school has not seen a drop in applications since the law went into effect on September 1, 2021.

New plans, new questions

Alexis Prisco is one student who is rethinking her plans. Prisco is a 17-year-old high school student from Maryland. She wanted to apply to Washington University, a top school in St. Louis, Missouri. Both of her parents went there. But now that Missouri is a state with strong abortion restrictions, she is worried.

She said her mother warned her about applying to colleges in states that had strong anti-abortion laws set to take effect after the Supreme Court decision.

Washington University did not answer questions sent by the Reuters news agency for this story. Oberlin also did not provide a comment.

Washington University pointed¹⁴ reporters to a recent story on the school's website reacting to the decision. The university leader and the leader of the school of medicine wrote: "This is a painful moment for many in our society." The university leaders said they understand many people are feeling "frustrated¹⁵, disappointed and even scared of what this decision may mean."

Sabrina Thaler is a student in Maryland. The 16-year-old said she has been thinking about an important abortion-related question since May, when an early version of the Supreme Court's decision was leaked. She said she asked this question in a recent class discussion: "What if I go to a college in a state where abortion is banned and I get raped¹⁶ and then I don't have the option to have an abortion?"

Words in This Story

apply– v. to ask for something, such as a job or a place at a school

abortion –n. a medical procedure used to end a pregnancy

reputation –n. a common opinion people have about something

academic – adj. relating to schools and education

infringe – v. to limit or restrict something, such as a person's rights

controversial – adj. something that causes great discussion or argument

transgender –n. relating to people who feel that their true nature is as a member of the opposite sex

society –n. people in general who are living in organized communities

frustrated –adj. angry or upset or discouraged because of being unable to do something

disappointed –adj. feeling sad, unhappy, or displeased¹⁷ because something was not as good as expected or because something you hoped for or expected did not happen

option –n. a choice between two or more things or the ability to choose something

1 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

2 flute   

n.长笛；v.吹笛

参考例句：

• He took out his flute, and blew at it.他拿出笛子吹了起来。
• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

7 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

8 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

9 infringe   

v.违反，触犯，侵害

参考例句：

• The jury ruled that he had infringed no rules.陪审团裁决他没有违反任何规定。
• He occasionally infringe the law by parking near a junction.他因偶尔将车停放在交叉口附近而违反规定。

10 controversies   

争论

参考例句：

• We offer no comment on these controversies here. 对于这些争议，我们在这里不作任何评论。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon. 围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。 来自辞典例句

11 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

12 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

13 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

15 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

17 displeased   

a.不快的

参考例句：

• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。
• He was displeased about the whole affair. 他对整个事情感到很不高兴。