Let’s travel back in time and ask ourselves how society would be today without the birth control pill.
I think of babies, and too many of them. But more importantly, I think of women and the inability to attain higher education. Birth control is the reason why America now hosts more female undergraduates at universities. It’s the reason why the average age to get married is 28, compared to the 1950s average of 21.
Now, let’s fast forward and ask ourselves what events will unfold from the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (effective Jan. 1), signed by President Bush, since women at universities will no longer be able to get prescription birth control for $15. They can now receive it for $50. And by that I mostly mean, they won’t receive it at all.
The act cut funding to Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement, meaning pharmaceutical companies such as Organon and Johnson&Johnson can no longer afford to hand out funding breaks to universities.
Specific to UT, women are allowed to get up to two months worth of the $15 packs before they will be forced to pay the full and bloody price.
And while administrators argue that going generic is still an option, birth control devices such as the NuvaRing have no generic option, and major birth control pill brand Ortho Tri Cyclen-Lo will not offer a generic version until 2010.
It seems that even though these “concerns are being voiced across the nation” (says an administrator to my own concerns) the loudest anyone will let this voice go up is to the lowest of octaves.
And that is where initiative is being taken. An on campus reproductive rights group at the University of Texas, Voices for Choice, created the awareness campaign “You Can’t Afford to Lose Control.” It plans to raise awareness about the issue and eventually urge college administrations across the nation to include a subsidy in student fees for this particular purpose. Plan on hearing more about this in the next few months.
The point is, I don’t want to ever have to say “let’s travel back in time” again – especially in reference to this issue. This need is timeless and apparent and the voice should be heard, because there is one out there.
If you want to become a part of the new birth control movement, send an email to cantaffordtolosecontrol at gmail dot com.
Let’s fast forward.
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