Not a member? Sign up now
Pennsylvania university to offer morning-after pill in vending machine
By Sean MorrowFebruary 7th, 2012, 8:30 pmComments (20)
Someone in the student health department at Shippensburg University must really enjoy outraged emails from Catholics.
Shippensburg will now be offering Plan B in a vending machine on campus. Anyone with a student ID and $25 will have access to the emergency contraceptive without having to go through a pharmacist. Federal law grants availability of the pill to anyone over seventeen; Shippensburg staff checked student records and found that all enrolled students were over seventeen, and therefore they don't need to check ID for the vending machine. The pill will only be available in one vending machine on campus, inside the health center. The vending machine also offers cough drops, condoms, Mucinex, and pregnancy tests. So basically, however rough your night was, just make sure you've stocked up on Gatorade before you hit the health-center vending machine, and you're golden. Hopefully the machine is user-friendly: unlike a normal vending machine, an incorrectly pressed button could be disastrous. "Cough drops? I needed Plan B. Oh, well." It would be almost as disappointing as getting pretzel M&Ms when you wanted peanut.
The Associated Press quotes Shippensburg senior Matthew Kanzler, "It's a way for students to get the help or care they need." Shippensburg is relatively isolated from the nearest urban centers, so easy access to emergency birth control is important; going to a local pharmacy isn't always an option.
Plan B is effective when taken within seventy-two hours of unprotected sex or contraceptive failure. When it's taken correctly, about seven out of eight women who would have gotten pregnant, do not get pregnant, says Teva Women's Health.
The strongly student-supported decision is sure to create controversy outside of the university. Hopefully other universities will take Shippensburg's lead, and offer such easy access to women's health solutions. How long it'll be before this happens, though, remains to be seen.
Commentarium (20 Comments)
KingPellinore thinks Catholic Church mandate is totally uncool.
This is a clever idea. Yes, let's hope it spreads to as many other schools as possible.
There definitely needs to be a banner on the machine that reminds the kids that repeated usage diminishes the effectiveness. Unless that's not at all true and I just heard that somewhere.
If you don't have the balls to go to the pharmacist and ask for Plan B, then you shouldn't be having sex.
I know, right? I get so nervous about buying Pepsi from an actual person; that's why I love vending machines!
Or...wait.
I'd rather not get slut-shamed by some prissy pharmacist, as has happened to quite a few women in search of Plan B. More importantly, I want access to that pill ASAP as its effectiveness drops the longer after a sex-oops a woman waits to take it. I'll stick with getting mine at the local Planned Parenthood, thanks.
we'll see you when you come in for the herpes anti-virals.
Lawrence, by that logic condoms should be behind the pharmacy counter too.
Good. I am anti-abortion, pro-Plan B. And $25 is too expensive. Make it $5.
This is my alma mater, and can I just say where the HELL was this eight (or so) years ago?! And to the person who talked about not having balls to talk to a pharmacist--this school, like the article said, is very isolated. If you don't have a car on campus, you might not be able to get to a pharmacy. I didn't, as a freshman, and was basically stuck on campus all the time. (Obviously, before Plan B went over the counter, you were *really* SOL. It was a half-hour drive on the interstate to the nearest Planned Parenthood.)
This school is also smack-dab in the middle of Pennsyltucky, so this is shocking to me, to be honest. This vending machine is in the same health center that, a few years ago, didn't distribute emergency contraception at all, and referred a friend who went there for a pregnancy test to one of those "crisis" pregnancy centers. All that said--I've never been so proud of my school, and am glad attitudes there seem to be changing.
Then use a condom. Big deal. If you don't have the time, money, means, or are too shy to get a Plan B when needed, then either be more careful or don't have sex. It's pretty simple.
You have what? A solid 5 days that Plan B still has some sort of effect? If you wanted you could just buy a few for the future in case you fuck up. Because hey, we all know condoms break regularly right? Oh.... wait...
So why exactly are you so up in arms about this?
This health center also hands out condoms (out of the same vending machine, the article points out). Now it just gives out a backup, too. And honestly, has saying "be more careful or don't have sex" ever worked when said to horny, frequently-drunk college kids?
Most girls I know don't even know the side effects of this pill. You will probably not have a normal period for about a year, and when you do, it probably will not be regular. Who knows what this is doing to the quality and regularity of your ovulation, and what that might mean for any subsequent pregnancies. There will also be random spotting for a long time. Anyone who thinks this is an easy pill to swallow should rethink their birth control methods (or lack thereof.) You are basically taking the equivalent of one whole month worth of birth control pills in one shot. In fact, that's exactly what some women did back in the day before Plan B was available.
I'm not saying I disagree with making it available to women in remote places. But judging by some of the responses here, it doesn't seem to me that people realize what they are doing to their uteri. And selling it like Skittles doesn't help get that information out.
If you are worried about being slut-shamed by the pharmacist, a good strategy is to take your boyfriend with you when you go (not that the pharmacist has any right to shame you, but clearly some women care about what some person in a white coat thinks.) That's what I did the one and only time I took this pill. I will never take it again, btw.
Wait a minute everyone, this person here experienced side effects! It's completely logical to believe that her uterus might be ruined! It's a good thing we have licensed professionals like this one to post anonymously on comment boards and say "nuh-uh" to the FDA's firm decision that Plan B is "safe and effective and should be approved for nonprescription use for all females of childbearing potential."
Also, ladies, just take your boyfriends to the pharmacies, duh. Or, if you haven't one, try taking your inconsiderate fuck-buddy or even your rapist! Or better yet, just stop caring about what the person in a white coat who is all that currently stands between you and a pregnancy you don't want thinks. *Some women,* amirite?!
ugh is actually talking about mifepristone otherwise known as RU-486 not plan B. that's a much stronger formulation. plan B side effects mostly involve nausea and possible vomiting. headache, dizziness, fatigue and breast tenderness or pain are also common plan B side effects. also menstrual irregularity but not for long.
BULL. SHIT.
I'm a grown-ass, responsible woman. I've taken it once. Didn't get pregnant. Glad I did it. Would do it again. No side effects whatsoever. It is a perfectly safe and reasonable option for preventing pregnancy in a pinch and I'm glad to see proactive solutions being offered to women in convenient locations. I also second the $5 comment. No woman should be getting pregnant in this day and age if they don't want to. The hoops women have to jump through for contraception is a crime.
i'm surprised to hear this news. hope it doesn't cause a riot.
in somewhat related news, let me share that the first time i went with a gal to get plan B at like 3am on a weekend the pharmacist working the counter (and drive through at the same time) was massively pregnant.
that was awkward.
my life story would make an incredible tv show. that's just the tip of the condom.
I hope that any WOMAN does this Pill thing HAS the Worse Luck THE rest of there lives