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Restore Affordable Birth Control
Action Needed:
Please join NOW in demanding that Congress undo the massive increases in the price of birth control for low income and college women. Contact your U.S. senators and representative immediately and urge them to sponsor and lend their support to the Prevention Through Affordable Access Act's bipartisan bills in the Senate (S. 2347, Obama, D-IL and Collins, R-ME) and in the House (H.R. 4054, Crowley, D-NY and Ramstad, R-MN).
This legislation will correct the injustices of the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act, which removed an exemption that had made it possible for drug companies to offer large discounts for birth control at college and university health centers and community health clinics serving low income women.
Take Action NOW
Access to affordable birth control is part of every woman's right to reproductive health care. These recent and dramatic increases in birth control prices for students and low income women will lead many women to discontinue their use, resulting in an increase in unplanned pregnancies and pregnancy terminations. NOW has always supported a woman's right to control her own reproductive future and we MUST act now to keep this right affordable.
Background:
For many years, pharmaceutical companies have been selling birth control pills at a large discount to higher education health centers and safety net-health care providers. This was part of a complicated process involving exemptions from the calculation of Medicaid-related rebates to states. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 removed those exemptions, making it unreasonably expensive for manufacturers to continue providing such deep discounts to schools and clinics. We must restore this important exemption.
The Deficit Reduction Act, whether intentionally or not, caused the price of birth control for patients to skyrocket from $5 to in some cases $50, and something must be done. While some health clinics were able to stock up on birth control prior to the price increase, many have now run out of their supplies.
As a result, their patients are incurring major, often insurmountable, price increases. Many have chosen to stop taking the pill, while others have sacrificed necessities in order to remain on birth control.
Price increases in birth control will inevitably lead to some women discontinuing its use because they can no longer afford it. Denying low income and college women the ability to use contraception will surely increase unintended pregnancies and pregnancy terminations. Young and low-income women deserve our support as they make their medical and family planning decisions, and affordable birth control must be an option for all women.
Contact your U.S. senators and representative TODAY and urge them to sponsor and support this bill to restore affordable birth control for millions of college and low-income women. Calling their offices is useful; meeting with them during the spring recess when they are in their home districts is even better.
These actions, in conjunction with sending the formatted message or your own message will make the difference to college and low-income women.
Take Action NOW
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