Students at Tufts are now receiving contradictory messages when it comes to sexual health and birth control. On one hand, stacks of pamphlets at Tufts Health Service inform college students about the benefits and proper use of different contraceptive methods. On the other hand, easily accessible and cheap birth control packs, formerly offered by college health centers across the country, are no longer available due to a cut enacted in the 2005 federal budget.
Two years ago, the conservative Congress, looking to cut costs, decided that pharmaceutical companies should no longer receive benefits for providing low-cost birth control to college health centers and to centers servicing low-income populations. The Daily is strongly against this move.
The federal government might have felt that this was an unaffordable expense, but for the average college student, a child would be a significantly larger strain on financial resources. Most students do not have full-time jobs, and for those living in states which do not require college students to be covered by a health insurance plan, the loss of cheap birth control methods will be an even greater cost burden.
Furthermore, some undergraduates who receive coverage under their parents' health plan may not want mom and dad knowing about their contraceptive use. One of the attractions of procuring birth control through Tufts Health Service is the center's confidentiality policy. The removal of cheap birth control might end up compromising this policy and dissuading some girls from seeking out birth control.
The simple existence of cheap and easily available birth control could bring in young women to Tufts Health Service if they are considering different contraceptive options.
The Bush administration's effort is clearly not just about funding, but a further step, like abstinence-only education, in forcing morals onto the American people. Slashing birth control funding, while at the same time taking steps to criminalize abortion, demonstrates dangerous idealism. Lawmakers should not delude themselves about the sexual habits of college students, nor of any other segment of society. According to an article on msnbc.com, 39 percent of college women are currently using oral contraceptives. Less readily available birth control will not lead to less sex, merely more unplanned pregnancies.
