The University of Connecticut (UConn) has installed a vending machine carrying contraceptives for students.
The vending machine, installed on January 31, comes as Governor Ned Lamont (D) signed a law in 2023 to increase students’ access to “reproductive care” at public institutions of higher education.
Philip Hritcko, the dean of UConn’s School of Pharmacy, told UConn Today, “Allowing pharmacists to both prescribe and dispense hormonal birth control could help mitigate barriers and expand access to contraception for the citizens of our state.”
“We’re grateful to Governor Lamont and Lieutenant Governor Bysiewicz for their leadership and unwavering commitment to ensuring Connecticut continues to lead the charge in healthcare innovation, protection of women’s health, and accessibility,” Hritcko said during a press conference held at the university’s School of Pharmacy.
“This just enables people to have better access and easier access,” Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria, a Connecticut Republican in support of the student-access measure, said last year. “You may need Plan B, as we all know, in the middle of the night, and you won’t have access to a pharmacy until the morning.”
As of 2023, 39 universities across 17 states offered contraceptive vending machines. One has been present at California’s Stanford University since 2017.
That same year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the sale of Opill, the first over-the-counter birth control pill in the country. Opill, often referred to as a “mini pill,” contains only progestin, unlike “combination” pills that incorporate both progestin and estrogen.
At the time the pill became available, Dana Singiser, co-founder of Contraceptive Access Initiative, a nonprofit advocacy group, said, “People have a new choice, a new option to access the oral contraceptive pill without a prescription.”
