Top

Plan B Vending Machine

February 8, 2012 by · Comments Off on Plan B Vending Machine 

Plan B Vending Machine, Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania doesn’t have the same old vending machines that most schools do. They don’t carry chocolate bars, bags of chips or soda. A vending machine at Shippensburg University has been providing students with the Plan B, “morning-after pill,” for the past two years.

The $25 emergency contraceptive pill isn’t the only product that students can buy from these machines. Condoms, decongestants and pregnancy tests can also be found in the vending machine on the Pennsylvania campus.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are currently investigating the University for dispensing the Plan B morning-after pill.

What is Plan B? The Plan B One-Step website states that their pill is a “backup plan that helps prevent pregnancy after birth control failure.” Within 72 hours, or 3 days, the Plan B One Step pill will reduce the chance of pregnancy after unprotected sex. While the Plan B emergency contraceptive pill is available without a prescription, legally it must be kept behind the counter.

In order to get the pill over the counter, the consumer must be 17-years old or older. So how is this age limit being enforced with the vending machines? According to the Denver Post, Shippensburg University officials said that “access to the vending machine in the student center is restricted.” Restricted in this case, means that only students and University employees have access to the machine. A spokesperson for the University also said that according to their records, all current students are 17 or older.

Morning After Pill

February 8, 2012 by · Comments Off on Morning After Pill 

Morning After Pill, Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania is the center of the controversy these days for offering students the “morning-after” pill at vending machines.

Students can get the “morning-after” pill by sliding $25 into a vending machine, an idea that has drawn the attention of federal regulators and raised questions about how accessible emergency contraception should be.

The student health center at Shippensburg, a secluded public institution of 8,300 students tucked between mountain ridges in the Cumberland Valley, provides the Plan B One Step emergency contraceptive in the vending machine along with condoms, decongestants and pregnancy tests.

“I think it’s great that the school is giving us this option,” junior Chelsea Wehking said Tuesday. “I’ve heard some kids say they’d be too embarrassed” to go into town – Shippensburg, permanent population about 6,000 – and buy Plan B.

Federal law makes the pill available without a prescription to anyone 17 or older, and the school checked records and found that all current students are that age or older, a spokesman said. It doesn’t appear that any other vending machine in the U.S. dispenses the contraceptive, which can prevent pregnancy if taken soon after sexual intercourse.

The machine has been in place for about two years, and its existence wasn’t widely known until recently. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is contacting state officials and the university to gather facts, agency spokeswoman Stephanie Yao said Tuesday.

The FDA’s sudden interest took place amid a furor over religious rights and access to birth control. An official resigned from the nation’s largest breast cancer charity Tuesday over Planned Parenthood funding, and Republican presidential candidates attacked the Obama administration for a recent ruling requiring church-affiliated employers to provide birth control.

Shippensburg University

February 8, 2012 by · Comments Off on Shippensburg University 

Shippensburg University, Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania doesn’t have the same old vending machines that most schools do. They don’t carry chocolate bars, bags of chips or soda. A vending machine at Shippensburg University has been providing students with the Plan B, “morning-after pill,” for the past two years. The $25 emergency contraceptive pill isn’t the only product that students can buy from these machines. Condoms, decongestants and pregnancy tests can also be found in the vending machine on the Pennsylvania campus.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are currently investigating the University for dispensing the Plan B morning-after pill.

What is Plan B? The Plan B One-Step website states that their pill is a “backup plan that helps prevent pregnancy after birth control failure.” Within 72 hours, or 3 days, the Plan B One Step pill will reduce the chance of pregnancy after unprotected sex. While the Plan B emergency contraceptive pill is available without a prescription, legally it must be kept behind the counter.

In order to get the pill over the counter, the consumer must be 17-years old or older. So how is this age limit being enforced with the vending machines? According to the Denver Post, Shippensburg University officials said that “access to the vending machine in the student center is restricted.” Restricted in this case, means that only students and University employees have access to the machine. A spokesperson for the University also said that according to their records, all current students are 17 or older.

Bottom