The ASUU Senate passed a resolution Feb. 28 supporting Congress for access to low-cost birth control.
The resolution was written in response to the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act, which slowed federal spending in Medicare and Medicaid and also cut out colleges and safety-net providers from supplying low-cost birth control.
Megan Jolley Milne, senator for the College of Pharmacy, said the 2005 bill was poorly written, and the Associated Students of the University of Utah should try to fight its negative impacts.
“We need to do everything in our power to help fix the bill so that we don’t cause unintended pregnancies,” Milne said.
Because of the Deficit Reduction Act, pharmacies were giving out too many rebates and driving up the cost of birth control, said Rachael Cowley, a junior in political science and a member of the Planned Parenthood Political Action Committee.
Cowley said three million college students and hundreds of thousands of low-income women no longer have access to cheap birth control.
Birth control at the U pharmacy costs between $30 and $50, she said.
Jessica Elder, senator for the College of Social and Behavioral Science, said ASUU should show support because access to birth control can affect whether some students are able to stay in school.
“In our modern world, it’s important for families and women to get affordable birth control,” Elder said. “It affects almost all students.”
College of Law Senator Dan Brinton said he wasn’t sure the resolution was necessary because students could pursue other options to get birth control, such as through Planned Parenthood.
Resolution sponsor Liz Clark, senator for the College of Humanities, said Planned Parenthood is just one avenue to go through and students need more options.
The resolution passed unanimously with one abstention. The ASUU General Assembly also passed the resolution earlier in the week.