House Editorial

Board decision disregards student needs, concerns

In its meeting last Friday, the Board of Visitors announced the discontinuance of dispensing emergency contraceptive pills, also known as Plan B, through the University Health Center. As seen by the uproar throughout the JMU community, this action is absurd.

The board has no legitimate reason for its decision. In a letter Virginia delegate Bob Marshall wrote to JMU President Linwood Rose and the board, he drew a parallel between ECPs and abortion. It is understandable for a conservative board to be concerned with abortion issues at a public university. However, ECPs have nothing to do with abortion. Unlike RU-486, which has the ability to terminate a pregnancy, ECPs delay or prevent ovulation and make it difficult for sperm to fertilize an already-released egg, according to www.fda.gov.

If this is considered abortion, then any form of birth control — including the birth control pill and condoms — would be questioned for its link to contraception. It is ridiculous to disallow the dispensing of Plan B just because of its preventive abilities when so many other similar forms are offered by the university.

In an e-mail sent to the members of the JMU community, Mark Warner, senior vice president of student affairs, made a distinction that the Health Center can no longer dispense ECPs, but Health Center physicians may still prescribe them. Therefore, students now are required to fill a prescription at a local pharmacy, whereas previously they could be given the contraceptives directly by the Health Center.

There are several reasons why this is an outrageous imposition. First, ECPs only are effective within the first 72 hours of unprotected sex and most effective within the first 24 hours, according to Aimee Johnson, a peer program coordinator for the Health Center. For those students who have busy schedules and lack proper transportation, filling a prescription is difficult and time-consuming. It is unfair for these students to not get the benefits of ECPs because of issues beyond their control.

Second, the Health Center offered Plan B for $15. At local pharmacies — those which even carry the contraceptive — the price ranges from $25.95 to $30.99. According to Johnson, Wal-Mart and Kroger do not carry ECPs. The board has caused students to pay more for something that the university previously offered at a reasonable price, as well as made the product less accessible.

In addition, ECPs are paid for directly out of a student's pocket. In other words, no money from the student fund goes toward the distribution of Plan B, according to Ann Simmons, coordinator of health promotion for the Health Center. Other contraceptive forms, such as the free condoms that are available at the Health Center, do not come from student fees either. Simmons said the condoms come from an educational fund.

JMU is not the only Virginia public university to provide ECPs. In fact, nine other schools, including the University of Virginia, the College of William & Mary, Virginia Tech and George Mason University offer this contraceptive to their students. Why JMU's board made the decision to fight Plan B when other state institutions don't seem to have a problem with it shows a lack of legitimation.

It is one of the Health Center's jobs, as Johnson said, to educate students on safe sex. By taking away its ability to dispense ECPs, the board also gives an impression that safe sex lacks priority on the Health Center's agenda.

On a college campus, however, this is an important issue that should not be messed with or looked past.

More than 2,700 students signed a petition Tuesday against the board's action, allowing the Student Government Association to pass a Bill of Opinion opposing the ECP decision. The seriousness with which students are taking this issue is obvious when comparing the number of those who signed the petition Tuesday with the number of students who voted in SGA elections two weeks ago — almost 200 more students signed against the board's action.

The Board of Visitors should reconsider its decision with the thought in mind that student health concerns should come first.