Outside Observer | College women need affordable access to birth control pills

By: Kelly Kay Clark

Posted: 3/24/08

Women face choices every day. Paper or plastic? For here or to go? Birth control or Ramen? Wait, when did buying contraceptives instead of groceries become one of them? It wasn't a decision women had to make until recently, when the Federal Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) went into effect. Now Aggie women have to pay as much as $50 a month for birth control pills at A.P. Beutel Health Center, when just a year ago they paid $10 or $15. Linda Lekawski, health director of the Beutel Health Center, told ABCnews.com "It's terrible because these are students who are working very hard to pay for their tuition and books at a time when tuition costs are edging up as well."

We're not alone. Time Magazine, the New York Times and The Houston Chronicle all reported on the rising price of birth control at universities all over the country because of the DRA. The interesting thing is this policy had nothing to do with birth control. The purpose of the law was to reduce the deficit, but it inadvertently changed the way pharmaceutical companies are able to sell prescriptions to universities. Before the law went into effect, pharmaceutical companies could sell contraceptives to university health centers and other safety net providers at a reduced price. The health centers could then pass the savings on to cash-strapped college students and low-income women. The DRA prohibits this, and now women have to decide whether they can buy gas, groceries or their medication. What's worse is this particular change has no impact on reducing the deficit. The only presumed result is pharmaceutical companies are making even higher profits.

Birth control is basic health care for women. Not only is it over 99% effective at preventing unintended pregnancy, it also regulates a woman's cycle and is used to treat cysts.

Most college women are focused on academics and working hard to prepare for a successful professional and personal future. Many of us plan to have families, but not while we're in college. For some of us, our family planning means remaining abstinent, but for those young adults who are sexually active, affordable birth control means that they can stay healthy now and plan for their futures. College women shouldn't be forced to decide between their current health care needs and groceries or even their long-term goals.

The great news is there is a solution to this problem. It's called the Prevention through Affordable Access Act (S. 2347) and it doesn't cost the taxpayer one cent. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, knows a thing or two about being a successful professional woman and a mother. She should understand that family planning is an important facet of promoting women's health and success and support this important bill. Please call Senator Hutchison at (202-224-5922) to let her know Texas A&M University students want affordable birth control to be a priority, and ask her to co-sponsor Prevention through Affordable Access.

Kelly Kay Clark is a sophomore environmental studies major.