My local news covered a story this week about a Pennsylvania college, Shippensburg University, that recently made Plan B (the "morning after pill") available to students through vending machines on campus.
The Vice President of Student Affairs for the university said the decision was made after discussions with the student body. He said the intent was to take some of the discomfort and embarrassment out of purchasing this emergency contraceptive.
The morning after pill is available without a prescription. The university purchases and sells the pill for $25, forgoing a profit.
It's Feedback Friday...
What do you think of Plan B being offered through convenient vending machines on college campuses?
Is this university forward thinking or irresponsible?
Is this university forward thinking or irresponsible?
Medical concerns: Honestly, I don't know anything about the effects of the pill on a girl's body (although I guess I know more than a vending machine) and it just seems like it might be a good idea for some sort of health professional to be involved. What happens if you take it several times a month? It seems like the risk to a girl's health is worth a little "embarrassment".
ReplyDeleteMoral concerns: The morning after pill is a little too close to abortion for me and I feel that it is absolutely wrong.
Wow - this absolutely blows my mind. To save her embarrassment? Are the vending machines in a secluded, dark alley where no one can see if she is buying them?
ReplyDeleteI'm w/ Trophy Wife - the health risks alone of this pill are insane & to just have it at whim's notice.......
I can't even wrap my head around this! It's so wrong on so many levels......
I saw this on the today show yesterday and I wanted to say that according to the doctor who was speaking about this, there really isn't a worry about a girl not seeing a doctor before getting this pill. Girls can get these pills without a prescription anyway. Trophy wife asked about taking it more than once a month, but what is to stop a girl now from getting the pills from different places more than once a month?
ReplyDeleteThis is on a college campus so these girls have a right to get this pill when they want to and are, hopefully, smart enough to use these pills wisely.
As to the fact that trophy wife thinks it is a form of abortion... that is not how this pill works. This pill STOPS pregnancy. It does not get rid of one. If the girl is already pregnant, it doesn't abort the baby. So, even though I am VERY against abortion I think the morning after pill is totally fine when used smartly.
I think that this is a very interesting idea and although I'm not sure if it should be available in a vending machine- I do think that the more available it is, the less unwanted pregnancies and abortions might happen to college women. Maybe the colleges should offer it through their student health centers?
I'm all about it. I think having morning after machines on every corner would still be better than having a bunch of unwilling, resentful parents who take out their mistakes on innocent children.
ReplyDeleteMedical prescriptions from a vending machine.... this is just wrong on so many levels for me.
ReplyDeleteGreat points made by all of the above.
ReplyDeleteI've always thought that this pill was wonderful in rape cases, though it's even more likely that the rape won't be reported.
I'm not having a problem with the college making them available. Obviously there is a need there or it wouldn't be happening. I'd love to believe that the girls are smart enough to be on some type of birth control. Some just aren't.
Don't you hate it that guys are not faced with these issues :)
This kind of made me laugh. It seems sort of absurd, but I guess if they can put Advil and aspirin in a vending machine then why not the morning after pill. I wonder if they have condoms in there too. Personally I think they should be right next to each other.
ReplyDeleteI think it is fine. The girls could buy them from any pharmacy anyway, and the pill is not an abortificant so that argument is false.
I tend to agree with Holly. Better this than unwanted babies.
Hmmmm the word university generally makes one think....institute of higher learning. Obviously not the case.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they should just protect the inhabitants via 'crop dusting' of the entire campus with some smartening up drugs...or ... better yet.... sterility drugs...or .... if people are this stupid maybe they shouldn't be there at all....
Kudos to the administration for involving the student body in this discussion. It's clear that the student body and faculty all subscribe to a higher level of intelligence than most! The availability of this pill to girls and women (17 and up of course) is paramount for many reasons. Do you know how many date rapes are never reported? Do you know how many girls spend years not being able to cope with that, add the prospect of thinking you could become pregnant as a result. The stress and toll it takes is quite unbearable. I hope that other campuses follow suit. This is great, a back up plan is always smart, prevention is good. If you are truly worried about what the pill does to the body, look up the list of ingredients on everyday medicine, such as tylenol and see the incredibly harmful effects it can have on your body.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if you are not grown up enough to put your big girl panties back on and go to a pharmacy and ask for something totally legal, you aren't grown up enough to be having sex.
ReplyDeleteThat's what bother me about.
Are women really this lazy? or are they really embarrassed? And if they are embarrassed, I'd venture to say that maybe if you are too embarrassed to tell a stranger something you did, you probably shouldn't be doing it in the first place.
kids need counseling and support. it really should not be an 'embarrassing' request for medicine, but rather viewed an 'important' communication opportunity between a responsible, mature and caring adult to have with a very vulnerable teenager/young adult. An opportunity to discuss preventative care and responsibility.
ReplyDeleteWow, I can't believe it! This is soooo wrong in so many ways. What happened to life at conception?? If you believe that than the morning after pill is in fact an abortificiant. It sheds the lining that the baby would attach itself to in the uterus in order to grow.
ReplyDeleteIn my eyes this is scary...what is this world coming to???