Should Condoms and Birth Control Be More Accessible On Campus?

It’s been a few years since Hoyas have chained themselves to the statue of John Carroll, but there have still been more than enough opportunities for Hoyas and outside groups alike to debate the merits of reproductive choice on campus. Condoms and birth control have remained very basic issues for pro-access students, but very contentious for those who support Catholic tradition.

While H*yas for Choice can give out condoms for free in Red Square, they aren’t afforded the same access to benefits permitted to other organizations -- including those like the Georgetown College Democrats, who frequently campaign for pro-choice candidates. Some students have wondered about the utility of this policy -- and of allowing Corp stores like Hoya Snaxa to stock pregnancy tests, apparently in case students make a mistake one weekend. Further, birth control, for which we can’t get a prescription at the Student Health Center and which isn’t stocked by Georgetown Hospital’s pharmacy, is used for far more than just preventing pregnancy; it has far-reaching implications for students who suffer from pre-menstrual syndrome and may be forced to skip class or other campus activities.

But others are fairly insistent that Georgetown’s Jesuit heritage makes it both undesirable and impossible to provide condoms or birth control. The University should not have to sanction the sexual activity of its students. If students do make that decision, condoms are available for free thanks to H*yas for Choice. And both CVS and Safeway, the nearby pharmacies, stock several brands of birth control, which are accessible to those who need it for sexual activity or for health problems. Some say that it hardly inconveniences Georgetown students for the University not to supply these things.

Given that many students on campus are sexually active, but making space for that activity violates Catholic and Jesuit ideals, should condoms and birth control be more accessible?

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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