Last week regulations to restore affordable birth control were included in the 2009 Appropriations Bill and successfully passed through the House. At this moment, the Bill is currently being debated in the Senate and is timelined to be on President Obama’s desk this Friday. Today, Senator DeMint offered Amendment 649, a move that would strip affordable birth control from the Bill! DeMint has characterized the Affordable Birth Control Provision in the bill as “an earmark for Planned Parenthood” even though it is of no-cost to the government.
A result of the Deficit Reduction Act, birth control prices have skyrocketed on college campuses the last two years. Students have reported seeing a rise of their prescriptions from $3 to $10 to $30 to $50.
Take a moment to call your Senators NOW and encourage them to work hard to keep Affordable Birth Control in the 2009 Appropriations Bill and to strike Amendment 649 down. Stand together with women across the country in demanding affordable birth control now! Together we can get affordable birth control back in our clinics and on our campuses!
Find your Senators’ phone numbers here and suggested talking points at the bottom of this page.
After you’ve called, let us know how it went!
Thanks for joining us in the fight for affordable birth control!
Choice USA
Cross Posted @ Choice Words
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Whoops -- was typing so fast we typo-ed Senators... it is funny to think of what Sentars may be though.
So, we need to call our Centaurs?
What about our Minotaurs?
And our Mermaids?
Exactly how is this "no cost to the government." Some additional information would be appreciated.
Was there some bill passed that removed generic forms of birth control pills from the market leaving only brand name pills that are outrageously expensive?
In the private sector my health care's generic drug payments have quadrupled in 3 years from $5 to $20.
Basically, what happened in 2005 was that a small bit of language in the Deficit Reduction act removed the incentive for pharmaceutical companies to provide discounted rates to safety net and college clinics. Prior to the Deficit Reduction Act pharmaceutical companies provided bulk shipments of prescriptions like birth control at lower than market cost. University health centers with on-site full pharmacies could buy birth control pills for around .75ยข and then make a small profit by selling them to students for $1. Which would, in the long run, benefit the pharmaceutical companies when the clinics continued to buy bulk quantities of birth control. Of course, prices gradually increased over the years, but they were still discounted a significant amount -- making it affordable for students and health care centers a like.
Providing discounted drugs to college campuses and community clinics is not something pharmaceutical companies are required to do, they offer discounted prices as a charitable service.
Prior to DeMint, the FY09 Appropriations Bill had an amendment that would restore an important no-cost provision of federal law that allows drug manufacturers to offer birth control (sold in bulk to clinics) at nominal prices (very low or free) to non-profit health centers and University health centers.
Does this help?
I'm not saying the "no-cost to the government" statement is false, but I think it deserves some explanation.
Good question -- read my response above!
True. But vagina does have a common usage referring to the whole of the female genitalia, just as penis refers to a specific part of the male genitalia but also has a common usage referring to the whole. For example, I automatically thought of the inclusion of bedroom furniture the scrotum in Velvet Acid Christ's question about drawing a penis on her or his car.