Which, budget or body, is more important?

Letter to the Editor
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: Opinion
As I'm sure many of you are aware by now, hormonal birth control is now being priced out of the reach of college students and low-income women thanks to the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which cut incentives for pharmaceutical companies to price hormonal birth control lower for college and community clinics. Even those of us lucky enough to have insurance may not be able to afford hormonal birth control anymore.
My insurance won't cover it, and many women are in the same situation.

At our university, birth control was offered at the former discounted rates - under $10 for many options, and $22 for the NuvaRing - for a few months after the act went into effect in January, until the stock purchased at a discount ran out. Now we pay full retail - as much as $50 a month - for hormonal birth control, and so do many low-income women. Here in Tuscaloosa, we're lucky enough to have health department offices that can provide hormonal birth control to some women, but for those living in more rural areas, this option may not exist.

We shouldn't have to choose between our budgets and our bodies. Women take hormonal birth control not just to prevent pregnancy, but also to control acne, lighten heavy and debilitating periods and fight endometriosis or PCOS.

The Prevention Through Affordable Access Act, legislation introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) and in the Senate by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), would restore this funding and protect women across the nation. Call your congressmen.

Visit http://www.choiceusa.org/ for more information and a form letter to simplify putting in your two cents.

If you're interested in doing more, Choice Alabama meets Tuesdays at 7p.m. in 101 Carmichael Hall. Tuesday is our last meeting of the semester, so be sure to come if you can.Holly KennedyPresident, Choice Alabama Sophomore, philosophy

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