Spencer, when I was struggling through college, I was doing well to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich three days a week and ramen noodles every other day. Having a Big Mac was fine dining for me my first two years and that was with a student job AND a job off campus on the weekends.

Yes. I repeat: I am a pragmatist. One of the things that means is that I deal with the real world and not some fantasy world that I wish existed. I have been to college. There are very few people there who are not having sex.


Should and do are not the same thing.

Unplanned pregnancies among young people occur because they are thinking with their hormones.

This has been going on for as long as girls have had vaginas and boys have had penises.

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Right now America spends $700 billion every year on foreign oil. That's our money going overseas when it could be staying here. We have to stop this.
That's why I support the Pickens Plan. Check out the website at www.pickensplan.com. If you like what you see, please join me as a Pickens Plan supporter.

If a certain course of action makes the mouth-breathers furious, then that’s a good policy. – The Practical Environmentalist

And that is true of many students but there are also many affluent students.When I attended college I had to work and I was always jealous of students that were well provided for and never had to work.On average,most students are on a tight budget but there are many exceptions.One would think that birth control pills would be a "priority" in their budget. I'm sorry,$25.00 per month for preventing pregnancy at such a crucial time in one's life does not seem like a huge burden to me.They are willing to pay $28.00 for a large pizza with 5 toppings!!! Again..it can come down to a question of priorities no?

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

We're not talking about the exceptions though. The affluent students are really the exception here. Besides, I am not sure about other universities, but the Health Services at mine were on a sliding scale for students. I think this issue of who can pay and who can't is really moot. If I understand correctly, this article is taking exception for those it already deems "can't".

Yet they are not handing out female condoms are they?

I disagree..even students demand needy occasionally spend extravagantly and we both know this. One's priorities are still applicable to the argument! I happen to know a needy student,my own grandaughter,she receives every grant in the book! Her family has no money yet she has 4 guitars,a car,an iPod and regularly travels to Vegas! My nephew is a college student,he also receives SS,Pell Grants and holds a job and he spends a fortune on video games! Granted,there is little chance of him becoming pregnant but he could easily afford to pay for his girlfriends birth control pills. Sorry...I just cant buy the idea that $25.00 for birth control is a burden compared to other expenses. It still boils down to a matter of "their" priorities! Any assistance would be subsidising things that they deem more important than controlling birth.

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

If I may offer a thought that is nagging...

Some folks are saying that a young woman going for an abortion is irresponsible and should have used birth control if she didn't want a baby.

It seems to me that it is the same group that is saying, when the price of the BC meds went up, that they should not have sex or just put up with the costs. (I'm not talking specifically about anyone on this board, as a note.)

Does anyone else see this as a problem?

I agree with you in principle, but let's look at this...

How responsible to we expect or college students to be? For most people, college is generally considered to be a wild time where they are allowed to do as they choose. Not saying that it is right, but that it is a cultural norm.

__________________
Right now America spends $700 billion every year on foreign oil. That's our money going overseas when it could be staying here. We have to stop this.
That's why I support the Pickens Plan. Check out the website at www.pickensplan.com. If you like what you see, please join me as a Pickens Plan supporter.

If a certain course of action makes the mouth-breathers furious, then that’s a good policy. – The Practical Environmentalist

The question then becomes, do we want to pay for prevention or for the resulting outcome?

Personally, I go with prevention.