Campus offers many resources for reproductive health

Bousfield Hall located just north of the Activities and Recreation Center in Champaign, IL.

By Vivienne Henning

On March 13, a student gave birth in a campus dorm bathroom. The infant was found deceased inside the student’s backpack, who was walking around campus when police located her.

The infant’s cause of death is still unknown and is under investigation by the Champaign County coroner and police.

According to Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup, a typical autopsy can take anywhere from 30 to 60 days.

“Under normal circumstances, barring any unforeseen situations that may arise or additional testing or anything that may need to be done,” he said. “That includes getting all our results back from the labs and the final autopsy results from the pathologists and any information that may be needed from the police.”

The Coroner’s Office is still waiting on results from samples they sent out to be tested, Northrup said.

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University of Illinois Police Department spokesman Patrick Wade said that he wanted to make it clear that there are resources available for those who may be affected by this case.

“I know there were people who may have known (the student), and may have known what was going on, and we want to make sure those resources are available,” he said.

The University also provides resources for any student who is pregnant, or knows someone who is.

The Women’s Health Clinic at the McKinley Health Center offers numerous services for different aspects of women’s reproductive health, ranging from pregnancy options and counseling to contraceptives.

On the department’s home web page, it says that their mission, “is to offer quality care to women (and) empower women through educational and emotional support by providing care in an approachable, caring and professional atmosphere. We strive to provide the education that our patients need to make informed decisions regarding their health care.”

The Baby Safe Haven Organization aims to reduce the amount of incidents of baby abandonment. The Baby Safe Haven Law allows anyone to leave a baby, up to 30 days old, with a staff member at any hospital, medical services provider, or police station in Illinois completely anonymously no questions asked, unless the child has any signs of mistreatment or neglect.

The Planned Parenthood at the Champaign Health Center, located by the County Market on Springfield Avenue, is another place where students can go for reproductive health resources.

They provide many different women’s health services including birth control, emergency contraceptives such as The Morning After and Plan B, pregnancy testing, ultrasound dating and abortion services. Appointments can be booked online or called in, and all services and options can be discussed with a staff member to help someone determine what is best for them.

Besides physical health, mental health services are also available to University students. The University of Illinois Counseling Center offers consultations, workshops and other psycho-educational forms of services to students that need them.

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A previous version of this article said Kiara Rivera was the Chicagoland spokesperson for the Baby Safe Haven awareness campaign, this is incorrect. Upon further investigation this interview was deemed unreliable and has been removed from the story.