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Low income women and college students are facing skyrocketing birth control prices. This is an unintended consequence of a provision in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, an omnibus spending bill passed in 2006. New York Democratic Rep. Joseph Crowley introduced legislation that would restore eligibility for discounted contraceptives for college and low-cost health providers on Nov. 1. Democratic Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Claire McCaskill of Missouri followed suit with similar legislation on Nov. 13.

Please urge your member of Congress to fix birth control pricing before the Congressional recess.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Since 1990, Congress has permitted pharmaceutical companies to offer reduce-priced drugs to certain health care entities to ensure that low-income individuals have access to affordable prescription drugs. However, a provision in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2006 (DRA) unintentionally cut-off every college and university health clinic and hundreds of safety net providers from accessing low cost drugs.

Now the cost of birth control on college campuses has skyrocketed and many college health clinics can no longer afford to provide birth control to students. This will likely result in an increase in unintended pregnancies among college students and low-income women.

Representative Crowley has introduced a bill called Prevention through Affordable Access (H.R. 4054). Senators Obama and McCaskill have introduced similar legislation in the Senate (S.2347). This legislation will provide a technical fix to the DRA and restore safety-net and university clinics' ability to access low-cost contraceptives. I strongly urge you to support all measures aimed at fixing this situation before the Congressional recess.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
October 30, 2007