After a civil debate, Miami University Associated Student Government (ASG) passed a bill in support of making emergency contraceptives available in all on-campus market locations.
Prior to ASG's meeting on Nov. 6, senators met with the Miami University Students for Life group, a pro-life student organization, to hear their concerns. The student group was then invited to come to senate and debate the proposed bill.
Comments were civil on both sides, with senators making an effort to include members of the club and give them time to speak. The president and other board members of the Students for Life club laid out their concerns about the bill and expressed why they believe emergency contraceptives are detrimental and why offering them in market locations is unnecessary.
Senators continually expressed that this was not a debate between pro-life and pro-choice ideologies, but rather an accessibility issue.
Currently, emergency contraceptives are only available at the student health center. The senators who wrote the bill proposed the change because many students are not aware emergency contraceptives can be purchased at the health center.
Senators argued that because the student health center pharmacy has limited hours, (8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday) students are less able to access emergency contraceptives in the narrow 12-hour window in which they work best.
Emergency contraceptives are also significantly cheaper on campus -- $22 as opposed to around $50 at Walmart, CVS, Kroger and Walgreens. If the availability is expanded to market locations, the price would remain $22.
The health center purchases the contraceptives in bulk and does not buy the name brand, which is why it is significantly cheaper. The bill stipulated that the emergency contraceptives could also be purchased with MULAA, which the authors of the bill argued would also expand accessibility.
A concern was raised that surveys were not sent out to students to make sure this is a change people want. Senators explained that the reason they did not send out a survey was to avoid causing too much controversy.
Other concerns included that Miami would profit off the pharmaceuticals, that parents would not like the money they give their children for MULAA to be used in this manner and that on-campus markets would have to start checking IDs -- as it is illegal to sell emergency contraceptives to anyone under the age of 17 without a prescription.
The senators passed the bill with 31 people in favor, eight opposed and two abstentions.
berryrd@miamioh.edu
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