Indiana University Student Government will be covering the cost of emergency contraceptives for all IU-Bloomington students through the 2022-2023 school year, stated in an online statement.
Students in need of Plan B can go directly to the pharmacy located in the Student Health Center and pick it up free of charge, student body president Kyle Seibert and vice president Bell Pastore said in an email.
Seibert and Pastore collaborated with the Student Health Center to create this program in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the passing of Indiana’s Senate Bill 1, which bans all abortions with exceptions for rape, incest and the life and safety of pregnant person.
[Related: Indiana legislative committee passes Senate Bill 1 to ban abortion with exceptions]
“We hope that students are able to use this program when needed,” Seibert and Pastore said over email “We also hope to spark a wider dialogue at IU about reproductive rights and safe sex practices”.
Seibert and Pastore said the goal is to ease any financial burdens students may face when in need of these resources. Plan B usually costs anywhere from $40-$50.
When students seek out these resources, they will also be provided with additional reproductive health resources. Students can find these resources on IUSG’s Instagram Linktree.
[Related: State legislators representing Bloomington release statements on Roe v. Wade decision]
The funding for the contraceptives was authorized by Congress Bill 1007 that passed through IU Student Body Congress, Seibert and Pastore said. Although IUSG is funded through student fees, the Executive Branch is currently finding additional sources of revenue to be able to extend the program beyond administration and ensure funding for this year.
“We hope that this program will stand as an example of what is possible and create more opportunities to help students and to help people,” Seibert and Pastore said in the email.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated what contraceptives IUSG paid for stemming from incorrect information from a source.
