Groceries or birth control?

A rise in the cost of birth control on college campuses has forced many females to make a choice. As they are faced with paying nearly three times the amount for prescription contraceptives, these young women must decided whether to spend their often limited funds on food or birth control.

What has caused this enormous increase you ask? According to a New York Times article, a recent change in federal law has caused the price of prescription contraceptives to sky rocket at campus health centers nationwide. Prior to this provision, drug manufacturers provided prescription contraception to health centers at largely discounted rates. Ultimately, these savings allowed the centers to charge students less money out of pocket. But today, students who were paying $12 for these prescriptions are now paying $50 or more for protection.

As a result, the number of students purchasing these contraceptives has decreased significantly. Some centers have even stopped selling certain brands because of their high cost. While many argue that college students should be granted these discounted rates others think these low prices will give students a "false sense of security about sex".

"From our perspective, this does bring to light a public health concern, but for a different reason,” said Kimberly Martinez, the executive director of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, which advocates abstinence from sex until marriage. “These young women are relying on this contraception to protect them. But contraception isn't 100 percent — for pregnancy or for disease."

While some young women may over-rely on contraception, I feel health officials should also keep in mind that older women may be just as likely to do the same. To some extent all forms of contraception create that "false" sense of security among females. Since grade school we have been taught that abstinence is the only sure way to prevent pregnancy and protect oneself from sexually transmitted diseases. Yet, other contraceptives such as condoms and oral birth control pills have been proven almost 99% effective. In choosing to be sexually active women are taking a risk, but in choosing to use prescription contraceptives they are also making the conscious decision to properly protect themselves. It is because of this that I do not feel college-aged females should be labeled as sexually promiscuous in choosing to use contraception.

Although, the article does raise a good point. Why were college females offered the opportunity to receive low-priced contraception in the first place while older women were always forced to pay increased prices? Is this fair?