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The machine only sells the generic version of the morning after pill for almost $30.
If you were expecting to find sodas and snacks at the vending machines at UC Davis, you might want to search for another place to buy crackers. One vending machine at the University of California Davis sells interesting stuff compared to other vending machines. Apparently, there you can find the morning after pill, Advil, tampons, and condoms.
The machine only sells the generic version of the morning after pill for almost $30. The price is a lot lower when compared to the one in the drug stores that can be around $50. Of course, like any other unusual measure, selling the morning after pill has raised some controversy.
Many people are on board with the idea and they are even glad that they have the access to contraception. Others believe that it promotes unsafe sex due to the fact that it offers a cheap backup option. This vending machine arrived at the University after more than 2 years of hard work from the former student senator Parteek Singh.
The student senator mentioned that the ones who pushed him to implement this machine are actually the ones who were against him, the ones who did not believe he could make it. UC Davis is 1 in the only 4 campuses in the US that have this easy access to the morning after pill. Despite the fact that under the Obama administration, the emergency contraceptive pill became available to all women without prescription, some women still can afford it.
This kind of vending machine also sells pregnancy tests, condoms, tampons, and Advil. Despite the fact that it is a great improvement for students to be able to find this kind of thing at a vending machine, there are not a lot of them.
In order to change this thing, Parteek Singh mentioned that he is already speaking with other universities that want to implement this type of machine. He mentioned that he expects the number of campuses with vending machines like this to grow in the near future. Let’s hope that this is going to happen in order for students to benefit from easy and cheap access to contraceptives.
What is your opinion about this vending machine? Do you think that it is a great idea or that the morning after pill promotes unsafe sex?
Image source: Wikipedia
