Chicago (AP) – Maya Roman, a university student, has a handoff in science and other places. A paper bag with text messages, walks to designated sites, condoms and Plan B emergency contraception. At DePaul University, it is the only way students can help with sexual health, she said.
DePaul, a Catholic school in Chicago, prohibits all kinds of distribution contraception On campus.
To avoid this, the student group runs a secret birth control delivery network called “The Womb Service.” The group, once a chapter on the university’s planned custody action, has been operating off campus since DePaul revoked its status as a student organization in June.
At Catholic universities that do not generally provide birth control pills on campus or on School-run health centerthe student group intervened to meet what was seen as a gap. Reproductive health care. It often means navigating pushbacks from university administrators.
In line with premarital gender and church teachings to block birth control, many Catholic universities have restricted access to contraceptive pills on campus. Student activists say they provide essential help on campus where students of all faiths are enrolled.
At DePaul, the university said it had banished the student group for its partnership with Planned Parenthood, the country’s largest abortion provider. He also said that he “reserves the right to limit the distribution of medical or health supplies/device items on university premises that we consider to be inappropriate from the perspective of the institution’s mission and values.”
“I couldn’t believe it,” Roman said the group was forced to break up. “It was a flood of disappointment.”
Efforts to limit birth control have emerged around the US
Well beyond university campuses, more and more Republican-led states have seen attempts to limit access to birth control. Some state legislatures have either attempted to exclude emergency contraception or other contraception from state Medicaid programs or have introduced legislation that requires parental consent for minors to access contraception.
Trump administration It also freezes funding for family planning clinics that offer free or low-cost birth control and scrub centres for disease control and prevention guidance on birth control from government websites.
Conversely, Illinois Governor JB Pretzker, a Democrat, requested the university in August to provide birth control and abortion pills at pharmacies and student health centers within Campes, but this applies only to public institutions.
“We’re seeing this massive effort to limit access to birth control and abortion across the United States, not just at Catholic campuses,” said Jill Delston, an associate professor at the University of Missouri. Louis studied birth control access. “And it could be amplified in some way on Catholic campuses.”
Activist groups connect with students right next to campus
Roman, an economics student at DePaul, grew up learning about reproductive health from her mother, a nurse. When she arrived on campus, she realized that many of her peers had relatively limited sexual health knowledge. Meanwhile, she said she noticed DePaul’s lack of sexual and reproductive health resources.
“We saw the need in our community and we tried our best to deal with it right away,” she said.
Currently, the group she leads receives around 15-25 orders each week for birth control and hosts sex education seminars.
“These schools don’t provide disproportionate access to birth control, so students are stepping up to fill those gaps, so they don’t prevent other students from controlling their own reproductive fate and freedom of reproduction.”
At Loyola University, another Catholic facility in Chicago, reproductive justice students provide condoms, lubricants, pregnancy tests and emergency contraception directly to students. They receive up to 20 orders overnight. The group is hosting free condoms on Fridays. There, members will hand out condoms at a bus stop just off campus.
The group applied for status for a registered student organization in 2016 but was denied, said Alyssa Suarez Tineo, a student and gender studies organizer of SRJ Loyola.
“Loyola’s motto is “Curella Personal,” and he cares for the whole person,” she said. “And this is an example of Loyola not responding to what it promises.”
At Notre Dame, Student Group 4 Reproductive Health was formed in 2017 and filed a lawsuit challenging the university’s decision to refuse contraception compensation to students and employees. The group is distributing birth control from campus today.
Gabriella Shirtcliffe, co-chairman of the group, said the job “helps reduce the risk of an unplanned pregnancy where someone may need to have an abortion.”
Organizers view Catholic universities as a “challenging environment.”
Lack of access to birth control can have a profound, long-term impact on students’ lives, Delston said.
“What is at risk for these students is their physical autonomy: their ability to pursue their direction for the rest of their lives, their goals, pursue degrees, pursue careers, and start a family,” she said.
In 2020, the American Emergency Contraception Association launched an effort to help student activists expand contraceptive access on university campuses. The group helped install 150 vending machines to distribute emergency contraceptives on campus.
At Catholic universities, students usually have to start smaller than vending machines, said Kelly Cleland, executive director of the group. The first step, she said, is to help students understand what is possible.
“This is a lesson for them about organizing in challenging environments,” she said.
At DePaul, the students behind the uterine services plan for new names to re-register in unity for reproductive justice and continue to distribute birth control pills this semester. Roman said he hopes more students on Catholic campuses will challenge the university’s reproductive health policy.
“It’s possible. It’s possible,” she said. “And you’re not alone in this fight.”
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