SGA, Health Services Tackle Birth Control Price Hike

In its campaign to make birth control more affordable, the Activist Council of the Columbia College Democrats is shifting tactics this week by attempting to raise awareness about the options currently available to female students.

These efforts have replaced the initial plan to pressure, and possibly demonstrate against, the University administration to obtain affordable contraception for students. The Activist Council met with Columbia Health Services last week, and was “pleasantly surprised” to learn that Health Services was already working on the problem, according to the Democrats’ Media Director, Jonathan Backer, CC ’10.

Though Health Services didn’t go into the costs of birth control, it stated in a press release that it dispenses and provides “not only these prescriptions after personal assessments with each student, but counseling and information about benefits and potential side effects, and about drug-to-drug interactions.”

Health Services also stated that it was “not directly affected by the Deficit Reduction Act as it relates to prescription medications,” though the AC earlier argued that birth control costs increased 600 percent because of the congressional act, part of which cut funding to university health clinics.

Backer said that contraceptives are provided to students on the Columbia Health Plan, which is only 30 percent of the student body—though many people don’t know enough about the benefits to take advantage of them.

To counter this, the Activist Council will hold an awareness event Thursday on the Lerner ramp. It will also work with Health Services to better inform students of their options.

“We’d recommend something along the lines of a ‘10 steps to getting affordable birth control,’” Backer said in an online interview.

While the campaign is largely rooted in the Dems’ original, and temporarily abandoned, goal of lobbying Congress to make birth control affordable, it involves about a dozen student groups represented by approximately 35 students who met Feb. 17 to form a coalition and draw up a resolution to lobby the administration. The resolution has been endorsed by the College Democrats, the Columbia College Student Council, and Take Back the Night.

Of all the student organizations that have shown support for the resolution, Barnard’s Student Government Association is something of an anomaly.

Because Barnard already operates a dispensary of contraceptives, the SGA wouldn’t directly benefit its constituents by backing the resolution. Instead, SGA mentioned at its meeting last night that it would look into backing Barnard’s supply of birth control once it runs out.

“The [SGA’s] Health Advisory Committee is looking to get more involved in the Dems’ initiative ... but we’re not quite sure how we’re going to do it,” said Virginia Burger, BC ’10 and SGA Student Services Representative.

Stephanie Turner contributed to this article.

lien.hoang@columbiaspectator.com