Easing access to birth control
Storied campus joins trend of installing vending machines for ‘morning after’ pill
Like chips and soda, emergency contraception can now be bought from vending machines at Stanford University, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara and a growing number of other campuses.
With the swipe of a credit card, students can purchase the generic “morning after” pill, called My Way, for $25, preventing pregnancy after unprotected sex.
Emergency contraception has been federally approved, amid controversy, for nearly two decades — but on-campus access for students has remained limited, requiring a visit to student health services until now. The pill is most effective when taken quickly.
“Our rights shouldn’t be limited to business hours,” said former Stanford student Rachel Samuels, who waged a three-year campaign for the vending machine.
“It was difficult for students who had an incident, or an assault, that happened on a Friday night — and no access to emergency contraception until Monday,” said Samuels,
23, now pursuing a graduate degree at Georgetown University.
Stanford’s compact machine uses a touch-screen display to dispense the product, as well as male condoms ($3.99), female condoms ($9.99) and Advil ($4.49).
It’s private, anonymous and easily accessible — inside an all-gender restroom — and centrally located on the first floor of the popular Old Union Complex, where throngs of students gather to chat, study, watch TV and eat.
While emergency contraception is sold off-campus at retail pharmacies, that requires travel. And retail pharmacies are more expensive, charging $40 to $52 per pill.
Moreover, it’s not always available off campus. About 40 percent of retail pharmacies don’t stock emergency contraception on their shelves, according to the American Society for Emergency Contraception.
On Thursday, the two pharmacies closest to Stanford — Walgreens and CVS — had no emergency contraception on their shelves. One was sold out; the other required staff assistance.
“Although ongoing contraception is more effective at preventing pregnancy, the high rate of unintended pregnancy in the United States suggests that unprotected sex is prevalent — indicating that many women could benefit from emergency contraception,” said society director Kelly Cleland of Princeton University.
In 2012, small Pennsylvania liberal arts college Shippensburg University became the first U.S. campus to install a machine for emergency contraception in the nurse’s office, rather than requiring students to schedule an appointment; the campus is rural, and lacks a campus pharmacy.
Dartmouth College, also rural, installed a vending machine in its student health building. UC Santa Barbara installed its machine in 2015.
But publicity at UC Davis last April helped propel the trend, when senior Parteek Singh posed with the machine to celebrate victory in his yearlong installation campaign — and his Facebook photo went viral, with 1,434 shares.
While the trend triggered criticism on some conservative websites, which falsely claimed that the pill induces abortions, there’s been little or no opposition on Stanford’s campus. The pill, which releases a high dose of the synthetic hormone found in birth control pills, works by preventing ovulation. (It’s not mifepristone, which induces miscarriage of an already fertilized egg.)
At the University of Maryland, students must seek a waiver to a 1950s law that bans pharmaceuticals from being sold in vending machines. At UC Santa Barbara, student Jason Garshfield questioned the university’s subsidy of the machine, saying the university shouldn’t support “its adult students’ extracurricular pastimes.”
At Stanford, costs for the machine were split between the university and student government. The machine carries a message — required by the university — offering a phone hotline and counseling services to students who experience assault or relationship violence.
“This was a student concept, and it was driven by the students,” said Lauren Schoenthaler, senior associate vice provost for Institutional Equity & Access.
Stanford’s Samuels got the idea from her brother, a student at Pomona, which also has a machine.
Stanford students could only obtain emergency contraception from the pharmacy at Vaden Health Center, which is open during standard working hours and a few hours on weekends, with reduced hours in summer. In contrast, the Old Union is open seven days a week, from 7:30 a.m. to 2 a.m.
In 2015, Samuels engaged other students who were also advocates for reproductive rights, then conducted a survey of 329 students to gauge interest. The campaign gained traction when she joined student government and could add it to the official agenda, pitching the machine in discussions with administrative leaders.
While the administration was generally supportive, said Samuels, it took dozens of meetings to resolve their concerns about logistics and legality. The machine was installed in time for this fall’s incoming classes.
“The whole purpose of emergency contraception is for events that aren’t anticipated,” said Vicki Niu, 20, vice president of Associated Students of Stanford University. “There is emotional security knowing that there are options available for students, so they can get as much protection as possible, as soon as possible.”