Not content to wait until 2014, when the federal government begins punishing Americans who don’t have health insurance, the top dogs in North Carolina’s university system have decreed that all students buy coverage — or else.

It’s a glimmer of what ObamaCare will eventually become. Last year, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors decided that students who aren’t covered by another plan, such as through a parent or employer, must purchase coverage through the system’s hand-picked provider, beginning in the 2010 fall semester.

The penalty if students don’t: getting booted out.

The premiums are reasonable — about $360 each semester across the system’s 16 campuses. Students who can’t afford the coverage can get it free through student aid.

But similar to the debate in Congress, pro-lifers are crying foul over the plan’s coverage for abortion. K-Lo over at NRO’s “The Corner” has the details. The plan covers abortions up to $500 with a 20 percent deductible for in-network providers.

University officials argue that they aren’t forcing students to purchase abortion coverage, since they’re free to buy coverage elsewhere. But if students don’t buy health insurance, they can’t attend. Period. Besides, how many pro-life students will unknowingly purchase coverage that funnels cash to a procedure they find morally repugnant?

It’s yet another example of how ObamaCare, and policies like it, benefit the abortion industry.