Boston University Has A Vending Machine That Dispenses A “Morning-After” Pill For Just $7.25

Many college students aren’t planning to get pregnant when they’re still in college. Many college students would probably consider a pregnancy while they’re in college to be an unwanted pregnancy. Getting pregnant could derail their graduation goals especially with the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

What’s a young woman in college to do if she has unprotected sex and is worried that she might get pregnant? One option that is still available is the morning after pill commonly known as Plan B. A group of students made it their goal to make access to Plan B as easy as possible for the students at Boston University.

On March 1, 2022, Molly Baker and Charlotte Beatty, the copresidents of Students for Reproductive Freedom (SRF), officially introduced a new vending machine that dispenses a generic version of Plan B for only $7.25. The vending machine is located right next to several other vending machines that contain more traditional vending machine items like snacks and beverages.

According to Baker and Beatty, the idea of a Plan B vending machine at Boston University originated about five years ago. Beatty told BU Today, “SRF’s whole mission is to break down barriers to reproductive healthcare access around campus as much as we can. Plan B normally costs around $50, and to get it, you have to make a Planned Parenthood appointment or talk to someone at the pharmacy at CVS. There are so many potential access barriers to getting emergency contraception, so we just thought that this machine would be a really wonderful way to improve the state of reproductive healthcare for people in the BU community.” 

Baker told NBC 10 Boston, “The overturning of Roe made us even more proud to offer this service to people in our community.”

Plan B is most effective when taken within 24 hours of unprotected sex, but it can be effective within 72 hours. It’s basically a large dose of birth control that prevents a woman’s body from releasing an egg that could become fertilized.  Beatty believes it’s “huge” that students at Boston University are now able to easily and inexpensively access Plan B via a vending machine.

SRF encourages students at other universities to reach out to them for resources on how to bring a Plan B vending machine to their school.

Watch the video below to learn more about this new vending machine at Boston University.

Do you think a Plan B vending machine is a good idea? Do you think more colleges and universities will copy this idea?