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Student handouts ca. 1970
Contraceptives on Campus
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CONTRACEPTIVES ON CAMPUS WHAT IS THE POLICY OF STUDENT HEALTH TOWARD CONTRACEPTIVES ON CAMPUS? According to Dr. R. A. Wilcox, Acting Director, "The Student Health Service has no policy on the dissemination of birth control information and/or material. Each physician in the Health Service is free to practice medicine as he is licensed to do in the state of Iowa. This policy of no policy means that birth control information and materials are available for married women students, either directly from Student Health or through a referral to the Obstetrics-Gynecology Clnic of University Hospitals. The story for single women students is quite different. She may be subjected to flat refusal (more or less politely), or treated to a refusal complete with a lecture on the arguments against premarital sex. Or, if she's lucky, she may get a referral. Student Health's treatment of the single woman seeking contraceptives is altogether arbitrary, depending on the particular views of a particular doctor at a particular time. At no time can a single woman approach Student Health with the assurance that she will be able to obtain contraceptives (assuming that she is medically cleared for a certain contraceptive method). She may be forced to go from doctor to doctor in Student Health, prepared to spend vast amounts of time and prepared to face refusal at each stop. This arbitrary treatment is personally degrading, forcing the woman into an utterly unnecessary defense of her personal mode of behavior. No woman can call herself free who does not exercise complete control over her own body. The Committee for Contraceptives on Campus was organized to fight for the right of every woman student (not just married women) to behave in a sexually responsible manner. For single women who have made the decision to lead a sexually active life, the responsibility consists of recognizing the importance of birth control. All of the humiliating consequences of sexually irresponsibility fall upon women in this society. All of the acceptable and "safe" means of contraception also fall upon women in this society. We propose, therefore, that the Student Health Services adopt the followng statement as policy: "Any student from the University of Iowa seeking contraceptive information and materials will be referred by Student Health Services to the Obstetrics-Gynecology Clinic of University Hospitals where such information and materials will be made available."
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CONTRACEPTIVES ON CAMPUS WHAT IS THE POLICY OF STUDENT HEALTH TOWARD CONTRACEPTIVES ON CAMPUS? According to Dr. R. A. Wilcox, Acting Director, "The Student Health Service has no policy on the dissemination of birth control information and/or material. Each physician in the Health Service is free to practice medicine as he is licensed to do in the state of Iowa. This policy of no policy means that birth control information and materials are available for married women students, either directly from Student Health or through a referral to the Obstetrics-Gynecology Clnic of University Hospitals. The story for single women students is quite different. She may be subjected to flat refusal (more or less politely), or treated to a refusal complete with a lecture on the arguments against premarital sex. Or, if she's lucky, she may get a referral. Student Health's treatment of the single woman seeking contraceptives is altogether arbitrary, depending on the particular views of a particular doctor at a particular time. At no time can a single woman approach Student Health with the assurance that she will be able to obtain contraceptives (assuming that she is medically cleared for a certain contraceptive method). She may be forced to go from doctor to doctor in Student Health, prepared to spend vast amounts of time and prepared to face refusal at each stop. This arbitrary treatment is personally degrading, forcing the woman into an utterly unnecessary defense of her personal mode of behavior. No woman can call herself free who does not exercise complete control over her own body. The Committee for Contraceptives on Campus was organized to fight for the right of every woman student (not just married women) to behave in a sexually responsible manner. For single women who have made the decision to lead a sexually active life, the responsibility consists of recognizing the importance of birth control. All of the humiliating consequences of sexually irresponsibility fall upon women in this society. All of the acceptable and "safe" means of contraception also fall upon women in this society. We propose, therefore, that the Student Health Services adopt the followng statement as policy: "Any student from the University of Iowa seeking contraceptive information and materials will be referred by Student Health Services to the Obstetrics-Gynecology Clinic of University Hospitals where such information and materials will be made available."
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