A recent decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to require new insurance plans to cover birth control with no co-pays is currently being attacked.
House Republicans are pushing to undermine this preventive care provision by allowing Catholic hospitals and schools to be exempt, even though these organizations employ and serve individuals of different faiths and backgrounds — many of whom use birth control. This would mean millions of workers and their families would lose access to affordable birth control, and so would students at some faith-based universities.
As a college student, I worry about the cost of living, the cost of books and the increased cost of the University of Idaho’s tuition, so the HHS decision is important to me even though I have a job. For students and young adults, every dollar counts. I want to plan a family, but only after I’ve graduated and am financially stable.
I believe that using birth control is an individual choice and an individual right. It’s also important in terms of keeping people healthy. The school you attend or the employer you work for should not dictate whether or not you have access to birth control. The reality is that women of all faiths — yes, even Catholics– use birth control and would benefit from access to birth control with no co-pays. 99 percent of sexually-experienced women in the U.S. use birth control at some point in their lives, including 98 percent of sexually-experienced Catholic women, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Birth control is an essential part of women’s preventive health care.
The House Republicans are wrong on this issue. Instead of focusing on jobs and the economy, they are spending their time trying to take affordable birth control away from women.
It comes down to this: The HHS decision will have a real and positive impact on millions of people struggling to make ends meet. All students should be able to benefit from the new health care reform law — even students at religious institutions.
–Megan Nolan
sociology, psychology