Office of the Assemblies

Dear Patrick,

My thanks to Valeria and the SA for conveying to me SA R48: Clarifying Cornell's Position on Medication Abortion Prescription Drugs at Cornell.

The legislation requires SUNY and CUNY campuses to provide access to medication abortion either by employing or contracting with authorized individuals who may prescribe medication abortion prescription drugs, or by providing students with information and referrals to providers authorized to prescribe abortion medication.

Cornell Health provides students with information and referrals to providers authorized to prescribe medication abortion prescription drugs. This practice is consistent with Cornell Health’s referral approach to managing specialty services and care, which lies outside the scope of practice for primary care organizations, and also meets the requirements of the newly enacted legislation even though the legislation is not applicable to Cornell. In Ithaca, this specialty care already exists at Planned Parenthood, which is accessible from central campus by several TCAT bus routes in approximately twenty minutes.

I appreciate the SA’s engagement on this issue.

Sincerely,

Martha E. Pollack