On a college campus, there are usually many resources that give out condoms for free. Different health organizations around campus often hold tabling events where condoms are provided for free, and anyone can pick up as many as they want. I think this same service should be provided for birth control pills as well.

When condoms are the main form of protection, this usually puts the power and responsibility in the hands of the man. However, having access to free birth control pills would allow women in college to be in control of their own sexual health.

In most cases, birth control is not affordable unless you have a good form of health insurance. For many college women, good health insurance may not always be the case. Paying for birth control out of pocket is not realistic for most women living on a college student’s budget, but this should not prevent them from having access to birth control if they want it.

It is no surprise that many college students are sexually active, so ensuring that they are being safe should be a top priority for all universities. Most colleges have some sort of student health service that allows a student of the university to see a doctor for free. However, if you are prescribed birth control in these appointments, the responsibility of paying for this is then on the student.

By providing birth control for free, I am confident that many more women would choose to take oral contraceptives. Money should not be an issue when it comes to sexual health.

Women in college are there to get an education and earn a degree that will allow them to get a job after graduation; most of them are not ready to have a child at this point in their lives. If access to birth control was not a problem for women in college, there would be a far less chance of pregnancy. Having a baby in college usually causes the mother to drop out to care for the child, thus greatly reducing their chances of ever getting a college degree.

The idea that providing birth control on college campuses simply encourages sexual behavior makes no sense to me. People are going to have sex if they choose to do so, many times not considering their sexual health at all.

With this in mind, I think all colleges should provide birth control in order to promote sexual health. By doing this, students who are already engaging in sexual behavior will now have an easy and affordable way to keep themselves safe.