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Last Updated: Oct 16th, 2008 - 13:33:17 |
The surprise of an unexpected pregnancy can add stress and uncertainty to a student's life unparalleled by term papers and tests, and Auraria provides resources for students facing such circumstances.
Although the majority of college campuses in Colorado offer sex education and birth-control methods, they also offer "option counseling" for women seeking information about adoptions and abortions.
Ten percent of all college women become pregnant each year, states College Area Pregnancy Services, a San Diego pregnancy-counseling center. Further, 34 percent of teenage girls and young women will become pregnant before age 20, and 80 percent of these pregnancies will be unexpected.
The Alternatives Pregnancy Center at the Auraria campus has been serving students for three years. It offers counseling and referrals tailored to the individual's choice.
"We look at parenting, adoption and abortion," said Rachel Keener, client services director at the Alternatives Pregnancy Center. "The choice is up to her, and whatever choice she makes, every choice is a hard one."
The University of Denver, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Colorado State University also offer option counseling for unintended pregnancies at campus health clinics and local counseling centers.
People are starting to look more at the woman and the difficulties she will face with an unplanned pregnancy, Keener said, noting that discussing pregnancy options appears to be more acceptable as the times have changed.
Many counseling centers do not promote adoptions and abortions, nor do they condemn those options.
"We don't ... recommend abortions, but we also recognize these choices," Keener said. "We are helping women make the best choice for their life."
Patty Kintzingrn, a registered nurse at the Women's Clinic on the CU-Boulder campus, said she wasn't comfortable discussing the importance of campuses providing option counseling, but noted that some counseling is essential.
"I think it's important that college campuses have someone to counsel these people," Kintzingrn said.
Keener sits at a table with alternative information in the Tivoli every Monday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Services at the Alternatives Pregnancy Center, which also offers pregnancy tests, are free, and walk-ins are welcome from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays. The center, which is a division of the Alternatives Pregnancy Center on 14th and Blake streets, is located in St. Elizabeth's Church. To schedule an appointment, the center can be reached at (303) 623-0860.
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