MiraCosta College's San Elijo Campus health center must offer access to abortion medication by 2029 under a new California law. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2540, the Community College Student Right to Access Act, on Sept. 28.

The law extends a requirement already in place at University of California and California State University campuses to the state's community college system. Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, a San Francisco Democrat, authored the bill.

KPBS first reported that 92 of the state's 115 community college campuses have health centers that would fall under the new requirement. MiraCosta operates a Student Health Services office at its San Elijo Campus in Cardiff, in Building 900, staffed by registered nurses and nurse practitioners. The office is open during the semester only, according to the college's website.

The law does not require community colleges to prescribe abortion medication on campus. Colleges can comply by prescribing through a licensed provider on staff or via telehealth, partnering with an off-site provider, or offering what the law calls a "warm handoff" that directs students to off-campus resources with follow-up care on campus.

AB 2540 also requires all campuses to inform students that abortion medication services are available and to post that information on their websites.

No dollar amount is attached to the law. Implementation depends on the California Legislature appropriating funds in the state budget before the 2029 deadline.

That funding gap sets AB 2540 apart from the earlier law covering four-year universities. Senate Bill 24 (SB 24), signed in 2019 and effective in 2023, created a fund using private donations that gave each UC and CSU health center a $200,000 grant. Former state Sen. Connie Leyva, who authored SB 24, said community colleges were left out of that law because there was not enough capacity to extend funding to all of them.

Nicole Johnson, past president of the Health Services Association of California Community Colleges, testified during an April 2026 Assembly hearing that "colleges are being asked to build and manage multiple care pathways to make this work within their health centers that are already operating at capacity …"

In fiscal year 2024–2025, nearly 300 medication abortions were provided on UC campuses and 349 on CSU campuses, according to documents from that Assembly hearing cited by the Fresno Bee. The California Community College system served more than 2.2 million students in 2025.

MiraCosta has not publicly stated how it plans to comply. The college's new Superintendent/President, Dr. Lennor M. Johnson, took office Aug. 3. Johnson is hosting two community listening sessions about the future of the San Elijo Campus on Oct. 29 from 3 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m. at 3333 Manchester Ave., Encinitas, Room 1131.