Should Plan B Be in College Vending Machines?

For $25, students at Shippensburg University can use a vending machine on campus to get access to Plan B, which is also referred to as the “morning-after pill.”

Plan B is an over-the-counter emergency contraceptive pill to be taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sex.

Locally, some colleges report considering making the pill more accessible, while others said they haven't considered it.

UMBC spokeswoman Elyse Ashburn said the university does not and is not considering making it accessible through vending machines.

Towson University is among the places in Maryland considering adding Plan B in a vending machine.

With a vending machine in a controlled area, Dr. Jane Halpern, director of the university's health center, told Towson Patch, "It's more private; you could come and just purchase it on your own."

The vending machine at Shippensburg University is located in a private room in the school’s student health center that is accessible only to students, according to a university statement released this month.

It was made available after 85 percent of students said in a survey they supported making Plan B available, university officials said.

“The university is not encouraging anyone to be sexually active. That is a decision each student makes on his or her own. The university does strongly encourage all students to make wise and appropriate decisions in all aspects of their lives,” Shippensburg University officials said in a statement.

At Stevenson University, health officials, wanting to make sure that the doctor-to-student connection isn’t overlooked, implore students to visit its readily accessible wellness center.

Rather than acquire the pill via a vending machine, Stevenson students can meet with the nurse practitioner on staff who not only provides Plan B, but also counsels the student on their sexual practices and suggests alternative means of contraception in the future.

“I just really feel strongly on having some health education to go along with the pill,” Wellness Center Director Lindy S. Reymann said.

“I feel for our university, [offering Plan B in vending machines] would not be the best practice for us because it is accessible to come to the wellness center and it’s a very nonjudgmental, comfortable setting for them to get it in.

Some experts have questioned whether vending machine morning after pills make it too easy to get the drug.

"Perhaps it is personalized medicine taken too far," Alexandra Stern, a professor of the history of medicine at the University of Michigan, told Fox News. "It's part of the general trend that drugs are available for consumers without interface with a pharmacist or doctor. This trend has serious pitfalls."

The machine at Shippensburg University has been around for two years, but awareness of it was raised only recently, Fox News reported.