S
ending contraceptives through
the mail seems like a remnant
of the early 20th century when
methods of preventing pregnancy
and sexually transmitted diseases
were largely relegated to legally-
murky backchannels. But 86 years
after Margaret Sanger’s shipment of
diaphragms to a New York City doctor
was confiscated, students at Catholic
universities are using anonymous
texting services and covertly mailed
packages to circumvent their schools’
restrictions on sexual health products.
Colleges and universities provide
health care and insurance to millions
of young American students, but these
health plans often do not adequately
cover sexual health resources or
services such as condoms and birth
control. In addition to preventing
pregnancy and disease, contraception
has
other,
equally
important
applications. Women who suffer from
endometriosis use hormonal birth
control to control painful periods and
prevent infertility. Hormonal birth
control is also used to treat polycystic
ovary Syndrome, primary ovarian
insufficiency and acne.
With
over
19
million
students
enrolled
in
higher
education
institutions, campus health centers
and insurance plans are essential to
the conversation surrounding their
health care. By denying students
access to contraceptives, Catholic
universities make it difficult for
students with medical conditions to
receive care while also withholding
the resources and tools that would
encourage students to be safe during
sexual activity.
Health care payers in academia
and the private sector refused to
cover contraceptive care on religious
grounds. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.,
for example, successfully challenged
the
requirement
that
it
cover
contraception for employees under
the Affordable Care Act before the
Supreme Court on the grounds of its
management’s religious objections.
The larger tension evident in Burwell
v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. — between
the religious freedom of institutions
and the right of Americans to have
reproductive care covered by their
insurance — also manifests itself in
certain
religious-affiliated
college
health care systems, particularly at
Catholic universities.
While not all students use their
school’s health insurance, many, if
not most, students use university
health centers. At public universities,
contraceptives
are
generally
available
at
these
university-run
clinics. At colleges and universities
with religious affiliations, this is
often not the case. Some schools’
health centers, such as those at
Fordham University and Georgetown
University, only prescribe hormonal
birth control for non-contraceptive
uses. While controversial, providing
contraceptives at Catholic universities
isn’t
entirely
without
precedent.
The University of Notre Dame, for
example, recently began allowing its
health center to prescribe hormonal
contraceptives for the purpose of
preventing
pregnancy
despite
a
federal court ruling allowing it to be
exempt from a U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services mandate
to supply contraception.
What
happens
when
university
health systems refuse to provide
contraceptives
or
sexual
health
information — services that college
students both want and need? At
Boston College — a Jesuit institution
in the leafy Boston suburb of Chestnut
Hill, Mass. — friction has been growing
between students and administrators
over sexual health resources. This
protracted
enmity
illustrates
the
tension between what providers want
to offer and what Americans need —
reflecting a bitter division that exists
across the United States.
Boston
College’s
University
Health Services does not provide
contraceptives since premarital sex
is against the institution’s rules.
Boston College’s Code of Student
Conduct states that “incidents of
sexual intercourse outside the bonds
of matrimony may be referred to the
Student
Conduct
System.”
While
this policy is not strictly enforced,
its presence in the Code of Conduct
is symbolic, demonstrating just how
deeply Catholic beliefs about sexuality
are embedded in the established
principles of Boston College.
It seems unlikely that all students
follow this policy, an assumption
supported in a study conducted by
Boston College alum Connor Kratz.
He found that in 2018, 79.9 percent
of students reported being sexually
active during their tenure at the
school.
Boston College Students for Sexual
Health was founded in 2009 by Boston
College
students.
After 89 percent of voting students
approved a referendum asking for
improved access to contraceptives
and sexual health information, SSH
was established to construct a peer-
to-peer
network
countering
the
administration’s refusal to take action.
Notably, the group changed their
name to Students for Sexual Health,
excising their explicit affiliation with
Boston College when the college’s
administration threatened them with
disciplinary action.
SSH has faced significant opposition
in their quest to provide condoms
and other contraceptive devices to
students, despite a 2018 non-binding
referendum which found 94 percent
of students in favor of accessible
contraception.
Furthermore,
SSH
initially ran so-called “safe sites” —
places where students could obtain
condoms and information — out of
their dorm rooms until Boston College
threatened disciplinary action. Now,
SSH is turning to the postal service to
distribute condoms.
Boston
College
junior
Esteban
Coellar, SSH acting president, said the
group’s practice of mailing condoms
to students is federally protected.
The Comstock Law, under which
Margaret
Sanger’s
package
was
confiscated in 1932, prohibited the
distribution of “obscene” materials
such as condoms and sexual health
information. A series of Supreme
Court cases eventually found the law
and others like it unconstitutional.
This loophole is grudgingly accepted
by the Boston College administration,
though SSH hopes that one day
these secretive and mecumbersome
methods will not be necessary.
“Ultimately, our goal is to get to
a place where University Health
Services
offers
sexual
health
resources,” Coellar said. This year,
they’re starting small and specific.
“We’re trying to get UHS to provide
Plan B to sexual assault victims.”
Students
at
Vincentian-founded
DePaul
University
—
a
Catholic
institution in Chicago — are using
similar methods.
DePaul University senior Jenni
Holtz is the co-founder of Students
for Reproductive Justice, a student-
run organization promoting sexual
health at DePaul and in the Chicago
community.
They
said
grassroots
efforts are important when students
are
asking
for
changes
in
the
administration.
SRJ recently began running TxtJane,
a confidential delivery service that
began at Loyola University Chicago.
Students can text a designated number
and a member of SRJ will personally
deliver contraceptives or pregnancy
tests to a specified location. TxtJane
was inspired by the Jane Collective,
a clandestine network of women who
provided abortions in Chicago during
the four years prior to the Roe v. Wade
decision.
“What’s important to us is to get
resources to students even when the
administration refuses to protect
their students,” Holtz said. “Our
efforts are also showing students
what the university is not providing
to them, so they can share in our
anger and get involved in calling out
the administration for their lack of
care for students. We have been able
to get resources to students without
help from the university and we will
continue to do so until DePaul does
it.”
Wednesday, September 12, 2018// The Statement
7B
On religious campuses, a birth control revolt
BY MIRIAM FRANCISCO, DAILY ARTS WRITER
File Photo/Daily