“Taking your one dollar back isn’t just making a statement,” Fee said. “It affects the choices in health care that women on campus receive.”
Fee said she believes the UHS rebate policy shows a lack of support for a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion.
UHS does not offer rebates for any other portion of the Health Service fee, according to Rosenthal.
“I don’t think there’s any other service that has created any type of ethical or moral issue like this one,” he said.
Daniel Choi ’94, who first publicized the refund policy in 1998, said he discovered the fee demarcated for elective abortions when he was looking through the “Pregnancy Termination Option” section of the health services guide.
“It is a morally sensitive policy and Harvard should treat it as such,” Choi said. “It’s a simple matter of re-writing the handbook in a way that makes the issue more public.”
HRL Member Maximilian Pakaluk ’05 said he thinks the University should more clearly show that part of the Health Services fee funds elective abortions.
“I think it’s very inconsiderate on the part of the University to assume that their students wouldn’t have a moral objection since it’s such a grave issue,” Pakaluk said.