When Sally Winn was a junior at Indiana University, she became pregnant and had to choose between having a child and an abortion. She turned to her family for support and had her child.
Thirteen years later, Winn encourages colleges and universities across the nation to give pregnant students the resources they need so they don't have to have abortions.
"I found out through personal experience that there was a lack of resources on campuses," said Winn, who spoke at MSU on Thursday, an event sponsored by Students for Life. "I was fortunate that I had a family and such to help me, but there were so many other people that didn't have that."
Winn is vice president of Feminists for Life, a pro-life women's group that works to offer women enough resources to choose life.
"Whether you decide to give birth and raise a child or put the child up for adoption, you can do it," she said. "We're women and we're strong and we can do it."
MSU offers several resources, such as the Family Resource Center, which provides information about childcare, parenting classes and adoption options. Its child care facility, the Spartan Child Development Center, offers early learning activities for infants and children up to 5 years old.
"With the challenges of going to school and having a family and having a job on top of that, families need all the resources that they can get to make it through school," said Jennifer Dunm, the center's assistant director. "We try to do that as best we can so that they can go to school and work and still have a family."
On Thursday, the child development center held an "International Night" for the families who use the facility.
"We celebrate the fact that we are a very diverse center and we give people the opportunity to share their culture with other families," Dunm said.
The Family Resource Center also has a guide available online which outlines resources for parents, including housing and financial support information.
Molly Pappas, president of MSU's Students For Life, said MSU doesn't do enough for parents.
Her group brought Winn to campus to talk about what resources the university could add to make parenting easier for students.
"We have on-campus housing for families in Spartan Village and areas like that," said Pappas, a political theory and constitutional democracy senior. "But when you look at the rest of closed campus, it's not woman- and child-friendly. Most bathrooms don't even have changing tables."
Pappas said Students For Life wants to educate students about the resources MSU offers so women don't have to choose abortion. The group hopes to start with residence hall mentors.
"Mentors don't have training of what to do if one of their residents gets pregnant," she said. "It's just about helping to get education out there."
