Students and a statewide organization are taking part in a national fight against 2005 legislation which has caused a rise in the cost of birth control for college students.
At Tufts, the price increases amount to as little as $3 or as much as $18 each month, depending on the contraceptive brand.
While the legislation was passed in 2005, it did not take effect until January. And since then, colleges have become increasingly affected as their stored supplies are becoming depleted.
Planned Parenthood, a primary player in the fight, is actively lobbying Congress to remedy the situation.
"We hope that our legislators make the change to allow all students and low-income women to purchase birth control and at reduced cost again," Lisa Dacey, the media relations coordinator for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said in an e-mail.
"Birth control is basic health care. Making birth control less affordable for college students and low-income women is bad public policy, and counter to the goal of reducing unintended pregnancies," she said.
On campus, the organization Voices for Choice (VOX) will also join the legislative fray. Senior and VOX Public Relations Representative Nikki Bruce said that the group plans on setting up a phone bank to call Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and "tell him how much is affecting us here at Tufts."
But how great has that effect been?
Dacey said that if a student prefers brand-name birth control the price increase is steep. Tufts' Health Service office used to sell birth control for about $7 per month, a cost that has now risen to around $25 per month for brand-name contraceptives. The Boston Globe reported in an article on Sept. 10 that, according to local health officials, prices will jump to between $30 and $50 for one month's supply of birth control.
"The price of birth control has risen so dramatically at some colleges that it is now simply unaffordable for students," Dacey said. "As a result, some students may stop taking birth control, putting them at risk for unintended pregnancy."
But that increase will likely be smaller for students who select generic brands, with Health Service Medical Director Dr. Margaret Higham putting the price bump at $3 per pack.
"I don't think the difference between $7 and $10 a month is enough to deter students from purchasing contraception," Higham said.
Freshman Alison Stewart, for example, said the cost would not prevent her from obtaining birth control at Tufts.
"From what I've seen, the prices here are actually better than what I generally pay outside," she said.
Before the recent legislation, students were able to purchase discounted brands of birth control pills through a federal program for "underserved populations," Higham said.
But the legislation changed the definition to make the low prices inaccessible to most college students.
Additionally, an increasing number of states, including Massachusetts in 2002, have passed laws requiring insurance companies to cover contraception.
Higham said this trend may have given some the impression that the low-cost options were no longer necessary. But now that students are purchasing contraception through insurance companies, the price is higher.
Bruce said that the increase has caused her to change suppliers. She now gets contraception from the Planned Parenthood Express Center in Davis Square.
But while she can still get birth control, she still thinks the new system is problematic.
"It is a major thorn in every girl's side," she said. "It just makes the division between women's and men's responsibility for contraception wider because we now have to pay more or [travel] farther to get it cheaper."
