The War on Birth Control Continues . . .

Here’s a reason to be really pissed off– and really worried, if you’re a college student: contraceptive prices on campus are skyrocketing.

For years, drug companies sold birth-control pills and other contraceptives to university health services at a big discount. This has served as an entree to young consumers for the drug companies, and a profit center for the schools, which sell them to students at a moderate markup. Students pay perhaps $15 a month for contraceptives that otherwise can retail for $50 or more.

But colleges and universities say the drug companies have stopped offering the discounts, and are now charging the schools much more. The change has an unlikely origin: the Deficit Reduction Act signed by President Bush last year. The legislation aimed to pare $39 billion in spending on federal programs, from subsidized student loans to Medicaid. And among the changes was one that, through an arcane set of circumstances, created a disincentive for drug makers to offer school discounts.

The contraceptive prices offered to schools are now included in a complex calculation that determines certain Medicaid-related rebates that drug makers must pay to states. In this calculation, deep discount prices would have the effect of increasing drug makers’ payments.

Wait, birth control is now more difficult to get for young women, pharmaceutical companies are benefiting from this lack of access, and the fact that it came from a Bush initiative is considered unlikey? Really? Oh. The article is from the Wall Street Journal. Of course. Never mind.

Gee, call me a skeptic, but I sure don’t see this as being an “unlikely,” or even a merely unfortunate side-effect. I think that, without a doubt, this was intentional. First of all, Captain War on Science and his war on science cronies sure do hate women, and have made it their mission to make lives of women more difficult in any way possible– particularly in the area of reproductive freedom. This is not at all “unlikely”– this was to be expected.

And now, while religious conservatives can whisper about the result and feel all warm and fuzzy inside, college women are going to suffer. Here are their options:

1. They can continue using their current contraceptive method, but pay several hundred more dollars every year for the privilege. Anyone who has ever gone to college, or has children or friends that have, knows that the majority of college students (read: the ones whose parents didn’t get them into Harvard *cough*) are broke. Did you have several hundred extra dollars to spend every year when you were in college? Didn’t think so.

2. They can switch to a different, cheaper contraception. In many cases, like for those women using the Nuvaring, it will require switching to an entirely different type of contraception, like a pill. So much for choice. For those women simply switching to another pill, things still aren’t all that easy. Many women have to go through several different types of pills to find one that works for them and doesn’t provide unpleasant side-effects in the first place. Some women need pills with lower doses of hormones for medical reasons. Too bad.

3. They can use their parents’ insurance, effectively letting their parents know that they’re using birth control. That might be all fine and dandy if you have open, progressive parents. But it’s not so great if you live in the regular world.

But hey, no one actually cared about the health of these women, anyway. Otherwise we wouldn’t be dealing with this, now. Not so sure? Well, here’s one lovely attitude:

Health professionals say it’s particularly critical for college women to have access to cheap contraception. Two-thirds of college students reported having at least one sexual partner in the prior 12 months, according to a fall 2006 survey of more than 23,000 students by the American College Health Association. Condoms have been available free on many campuses, and are considered the best form of contraception for preventing sexually transmitted infections.

“Maybe, if more people switch from hormonal methods to condoms, we may see a positive outcome of fewer STI’s,” says Mary Hoban, a project director for the American College Health Association. “But from a contraceptive standpoint, we may see more unintended pregnancy. It’s a double-edged sword.”

A double-edged sword? Taking away the reproductive choices of millions of young women is a double-edged sword? Funny, I thought that it was all negative. Do I want more women using condoms to protect against STDs? Of course I do! I work at Planned Parenthood, for Christ’s sake. But acting as though it’s a good thing that women are being faced with switching from hormonal birth control to condoms, against their will, instead of using condoms in addition to hormonal contraceptives is just crazy and insulting. Yeah, I’m thrilled to have women denied the choice to use the birth control they want, and then be forced to use a less-effective method.

I can only hope that college women will “thank” the Republicans responsible for this measure by voting en masse.

Tagged as: Bush