Rep Joseph Crowley (D-NY), along with 103 co-sponsors, introduced the Prevention Through Affordable Access Act last week. The bill will address the growing problem of skyrocketing birth control prices on college campuses and in clinics that serve women with low incomes. It has bipartisan support.
Prices have gone through the roof due to an unintended consequence of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) that was passed in January. The Act included a provision that prevents college clinics and hundreds of clinics that serve women with low incomes from purchasing birth control from drug companies at an extremely discounted rate. Prices have shot up as a result, some as high as $50 a month.
“I applaud Congressman Crowley for taking action and introducing The Prevention Through Affordable Access Act,” said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America in a press release. “This bill is win-win. Access to affordable birth control is something Democrats and Republicans do agree on. It is mainstream, pro-prevention, pro-women’s health legislation. And it won’t cost the taxpayers a dime.”
The Feminist Majority Foundation Choices Campus Leadership program is mobilizing students across the country to restore affordable birth control as part of their Birth Control Access Campaign.
