Last March, Boston University’s Students for Reproductive Freedom followed Brandeis University example, putting a generic PlanB vending machine among the ones for drink and snacks in the students’ union basement, to offer affordable easy access.
The levonorgestrel emergency contraceptive costs $7.25 per box, and over 1,000 have been dispensed since installation. On credit card statements, the charges list as "vending and snacks". The university's Student Health Services orders the product for the machine as well as supplying it directly during open hours.
BU’s SRF hopes to install more machines for various medications in the future, and has published a resource guide as part of helping students at other schools obtain them.
Plan B … works by inhibiting or delaying ovulation and can be taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex, though it's most effective when taken within 24 hours. Plan B doesn't cause an abortion and has no effect on an existing pregnancy.
Plan B and its generic versions can be purchased over the counter at most pharmacies and ordered online from major retailers. Plan B typically costs $40 to $50, while generic versions cost $11 to $45.
BU’s vending machine reportedly has gone viral.
Related news <small>FEDS WARN PHARMACISTS: DON’T REFUSE TO PROVIDE DRUGS THAT MAY CAUSE ABORTION.</small> Last Wednesday, Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights issued guidance —four pages, heavily documented, referenced and footnoted— reminding the nation's 60,000 retail pharmacies of their obligation under federal law to supply prescribed medications, including drugs that may cause an abortion. The guidance letter listed several conditions that are commonly treated with drugs that can induce abortion, and warned that “withholding them could violate civil rights laws and could be considered discrimination based on sex or disability...”