After standing in line for four hours to early vote at the City of Miami City Hall in Coconut Grove, Florida on a Sunday afternoon, I truly came to realize that you must take matters into your owns hands and truly put in the effort in order to be heard. Situations are not going to change unless people make an effort to change them. Consequently, it’s essential that students, like me, get the word out regarding to need to restore affordable and accessible birth control on college campuses and take action.
Considering the government’s non-responsive attitude following its unintentional subsidization of college students’ sex lives and disregard for the constitutional implications with regards to privacy involved and a student’s sex life, more specifically someone’s contraceptive choices, changing this situation lies in our hands.
Bearing in mind that the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 has already been passed and many politicians and college administrators accepting that it “inadvertently” caused birth control prices to rise on college and university campuses – why isn’t the government doing something to help out with this obvious mistake? Rather than sit around waiting for the government to step back from our personal lives by raising the cost of our contraceptive choices and making responsible choices harder to access – it’s in our hands, as those effected by their mistake, to spread the word about restoring affordable/accessible birth control to college campuses and take back our right to accessible and affordable birth control without having to break our “purses” and/or our wallets.
I researched a few options which have come to light thanks to other groups banding together and associations bringing this problem to light. Are you a member of a group at your university? Do you have time stand in your school’s student union? Have a moment to meet with your school’s administration? If I told you it would save you money, would you be more apt to taking action? Small steps can assist female college students in restoring affordable birth control on America’s campuses.
Petitions
Circulating a petition, like the one below, compliments of the Feminist Majority Foundation, who is extremely zealous in advocating female reproductive rights and issues, as well as fostering campus groups to further their message, is just one simple way to get the ball rolling and get the message across on your campus.
http://www.feministcampus.org/act/birthcontrol/BC%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
Once you get the signatures you need, present this petition to your school's administration, local political representatives, school pharmacy and/or any one else who can be helpful in restoring affordable birth control to your college campus, as well as other college campuses.
Meet with Pharmacy/School Administration
You can discuss and present the issue to your college administrators and/or the pharmacy administration at your school. You can discuss resolutions to this problem, but at least present a temporary solution which might assist college females in accessing affordable birth control. Contact local Planned Parenthood offices and/or community health centers that might offer discounted birth control to local residents. You can put together an informational sheet to distribute on your own to students, email out to your fellow students and/or request that the pharmacy inform students that there are affordable alternatives via the information you compiled in your informational sheet. This is a low cost and informative way to make a difference – not to mention you learn the information for yourself therefore help yourself out while helping others.
Generic Options
Several pharmaceutical companies carry less expensive generic versions of popular birth control options, such as “the pill”. Remember to consult your doctor prior to making a switch in your birth control. Many females are placed on certain birth control options with lower doses of hormones as a result of their gynecological history and/or family history. This option might not be available to some of us, like myself, who must use the lowest dose of hormone in birth control presently available, i.e. Nuvaring a/ka “the ring”. Upon consulting the situation with your doctor, you may able to switch to a generic version of your birth control, which can lower the monthly cost.
Drugstore.com presently offers information regarding the generic options available for certain birth control simultaneously with the brand-name option. It also gives you information regarding the differences between the brand-name and generic options for your reading pleasure. Check it out: http://www.drugstore.com/pharmacy/prices/drugprice.asp?ndc=00062190315&trx=1Z5006
Wal-mart also carries Sprintec, the generic birth control options for $9 for a month’s supply - http://i.walmartimages.com/i/if/hmp/fusion/customer_list.pdf
Whether you decide to help yourself by choosing a lower cost option for birth control or do your part to contribute to the effort of restoring affordable and accessible birth control options to college campuses – please take action.
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