By Luke Fatovic
On Jan. 24, GW officials installed a vending machine that offers contraceptives and pain-relief drugs for all students.
I wholeheartedly support this decision and praise the efforts of our student government for completing such a valuable project. We all know that Plan B is wildly expensive, with CVS prices topping at $49.99 per pill. Furthermore, the mechanics of purchasing Plan B can be tricky for students with sexually conservative parents, or for those who can’t afford such steep prices. The ‘wellness machine’ will deduct roughly twenty dollars from the market rate price of the pill, offering students access at $30. Alongside the pill, students will be able to purchase over-the-counter pain relief pills (like Advil) as well as tampons. Through and through, this is a huge win for the health and safety of students here at GW.
With this said, I would like to address the criticisms that this project, and others like it, have drawn. Zooming out of this specific example, Republican pundits and politicians alike have long decried the liberalization of our universities; just take a look at this Fox News piece titled, “How liberals are slowly killing colleges” (don’t actually watch that video). Additionally, the Pew Research Center found that roughly one-third of surveyed Republicans said colleges and universities are too liberal. Further, in my own experience, when I share where I go to college with certain older, conservative individuals, they recoil in disgust and immediately follow up with: “so is it making you a raging liberal?” Having spoken with various friends about these interactions, I discover that these experiences are not unique. And while I absolutely do not see installing a contraceptive vending machine as an overtly liberal initiative, contraception at large has been used as fodder for pro-life conservatives and your average GOP member.
Additionally, recent trends in book banning and government intervention in public schools – like Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill – have brought schooling under the microscope of public scrutiny. Coupled with what I would call a demonization by Republican lawmakers of concepts like ‘sexuality,’ ‘sex,’ and ‘gender,’ actions like installing ‘contraceptive vending machines’ is sure to offend the most delicate of Republican souls. As I read the news of the SA’s vital work, I saw the Fox News headlines pop up in my head: “Liberal University Promoting Sex” or “The Devil has Reached Your Children’s Dorms.” Dramatic, yes, but I implore you to see other real-life Fox News headlines, like: “Obama’s Hip-Hop BBQ Didn’t Create Jobs” or, “Is Islam a Destructive Force?”
While outing Fox News as a blatantly bigoted outlet isn’t exactly groundbreaking news, I worry this new installation might re-invigorate misogynistic and harmful rhetoric in the public sphere, specifically targeting GW. When Boston University installed its version of this wellness machine, a Fox News guest – Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America – characterized the situation as one “…where abusers can [now] have access to this dream drug…” and a “…bad bad idea.” A Fox News blogger had this to say about the situation: “When it comes to emergency contraception, girls need to think of it as just that – an emergency. Don’t make Plan B your Plan A.” To suggest that it is a ‘girl’s’ – or rather, woman’s – fault for getting pregnant and then that it is subsequently her responsibility to solve the issue is quintessential Fox News drivel.
So, to these soon-to-be-awakened sex-shamers and insolent conservative pundits – and any closeted ovulator-haters here on campus – I offer you an important reminder as to why we are in this situation in the first place: six judges in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving abortion laws to be left to state legislators. This decision has emboldened backward state representatives and aggressively sectarian legislators to overreach and attack access to contraceptives. Since the overturning of Roe, GOP lawmakers have begun pursuing legislation that would create a slew of undue burdens in the process of buying Plan B, like requiring prescriptions or granting physicians the unilateral right to refuse the sale of the pill. These same legislators have also looked at complicating the process of obtaining an intrauterine device in a similar fashion. To this, I say: action must be met by reaction. To ensure the safety of its students, universities must step up to provide affordable access to reproductive healthcare, like what has arrived here on campus.
GW is not alone in its efforts: we join Barnard College, Stanford, Dartmouth, a few University of California branches, Boston University, the University of Florida, George Mason University, and other colleges across the nation. Most of these efforts did not go unchallenged, and nearly all received national criticism. But, as with any idea that challenges the status quo, emulations of that idea begin to normalize its existence in society. Not only will GW’s newest contraceptive machine continue to normalize topics like sex and sexual reproductive health, it will protect many students in that mission.
And before this article concludes, I will leave those of our peers who worry about the horrors and possible Satanic influences this contraceptive machine will bring to Foggy Bottom with a lovely tale. There was once a bear, and one day, this bear stumbled out of the woods and onto a street. The bear walked along the street and before long, he reached a crossroad. Taking a right, the bear began towards a shopping center. In the parking lot, the bear noticed the shoes of customers leaving the Nike store. ‘Hm,’ the bear thought to himself, ‘those are some awesome shoes and I want a pair!’ The bear returned to the woods and told his family, ‘Mom, Dad, there is a place down the road where people are wearing super cool shoes – I want a pair now!’ ‘Now Son, why are you worrying about human shoes when you are a bear?’ his father replied. To this, the child bear thought to himself, it doesn’t matter if I’ll never be able to wear these shoes, I’m upset that they exist in the first place! Knowing better, he said instead, ‘Well, if I can’t wear them, then no one can. Let us go down to where the people are wearing shoes and tear it to the floor!’ Upset at his son’s response, the dad said, “Son: you needn’t worry about things that absolutely, unequivocally, downright, positively, do NOT pertain to you! Especially if you ain’t havin’ any sex!”
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