Boston University has a vending machine selling contraceptives for $10 on campus.
The vending machine is available to the general public and sells emergency contraceptives as well as resources for prescriptions, testing kits for sexually transmitted diseases, fact sheets and health information about emergency contraceptives, according to Mackenzie Pike, co-president of Students for Reproductive Freedom.
The student group collaborated with Planned Parenthood to install the vending machine in the basement of the university’s George Sherman Union in March 2022, according to Boston University. The group also credited the university’s Student Health Services, Sexual Assault Response & Prevention Center for getting the vending machine installed.
The idea of a vending machine for contraceptives came in anticipation of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, according to the university’s website.
Since the Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for abortion last year, these kinds of vending machines have gotten more popular. Many feature pregnancy tests and morning-after pills.
While some states have enacted abortion bans, and others have passed laws protecting abortion rights and expanding access to birth control, the rise in popularity of these kinds of machines is part of a push on college campuses to make sure emergency contraceptives are available and affordable.
Pike said that the student group drew inspiration from Brandeis University after it launched a Plan B vending machine in the spring of 2019. The student group has gone on to help other universities install emergency contraceptive vending machines.
She also noted that the university installed a bigger vending machine because the boxes of the emergency contraceptives changed sizes and no longer fit in the initial, smaller machine.
Neither Boston University nor the student group profit from the machine, Pike said. The money used to purchase items in the machine goes toward restocking, she said.
She noted that the price of the emergency contraceptives rose from $7.25 to $10 when the second vending machine was installed.
The Only In Boston Twitter page recently posted about the vending machine and Pike responded to some of the comments.
“Plan B is not an abortion pill and there are QR codes on the machine explaining what Plan B is,” she said.
The American Society for Emergency Contraception reported that 39 universities in 17 states have emergency contraceptive vending machines, and at least 20 campuses are considering them.
