A student ‘womb service’ works covertly to deliver contraception at a Catholic college

“It was seeing a need in the community and trying my best to address it right away,” she said.

Now, the group she leads receives about 15 to 25 orders each week for contraception and hosts sex education seminars.

“These schools disproportionately don’t provide contraception access, so students are stepping up to fill those gaps so that other students aren’t being prevented from controlling their own reproductive destiny and reproductive freedom,” said Maddy Niziolek, development specialist at Catholics for Choice, which helps students organize against Catholic universities’ restrictions on contraception access.

At Loyola University, another Catholic institution in Chicago, Students for Reproductive Justice delivers condoms, lubricant, pregnancy tests and emergency contraception directly to students. They receive as many as 20 orders in a single night. The group also hosts Free Condom Friday, where members pass out condoms at bus stops just off campus.

The group applied for registered student organization status in 2016 but was denied, said Alyssa Suarez Tineo, a junior studying women and gender studies and an organizer for SRJ Loyola.

“Loyola’s motto is ‘cura personalis,’ care for the whole person,” she said. “And this is just an example of Loyola not living up to what it promises.”

At the University of Notre Dame, the student group Irish 4 Reproductive Health formed in 2017 to file a lawsuit challenging the university’s decision to deny birth control coverage to students and employees. The group today distributes contraception off campus.

Gabriella Shirtcliff, the group’s co-president, said its work “helps reduce the risk of unplanned pregnancy that might require someone to get an abortion.”

Organizers see Catholic colleges as ‘challenging environments’

A lack of access to contraception can have deep, long-term impacts on students’ lives, Delston said.

“What’s at stake for these students is their bodily autonomy — the direction of the rest of their lives, their ability to pursue their goals, get a degree, have a career or start a family at the time it suits them,” she said.

In 2020, the American Society for Emergency Contraception launched an effort to help student activists expand contraception access on college campuses. The group has helped install 150 vending machines that dispense emergency contraception on campuses.

At Catholic universities, students usually have to start smaller than a vending machine, said Kelly Cleland, the group’s executive director. The first step, she said, is helping students figure out what’s possible.

“This is a lesson for them about organizing in challenging environments,” she said.

At DePaul, the students behind the womb service have re-applied under a new name — Students United for Reproductive Justice — and plan to continue distributing contraceptives this semester. DePaul has not approved the registration. Roman said she hopes more students on Catholic campuses challenge their universities’ reproductive health policies.

“It is possible; it is feasible,” she said. “And you’re not alone in this fight.”

This story was first published on Sept. 30, 2025. It was updated on Oct. 1, 2025 to make clear that the student group at DePaul University does not have status as registered on campus.

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Originally Published: October 2, 2025 at 9:55 AM PDT