Education

Confused Students At Catholic College Call Lack Of Free Condoms ‘Pattern Of Injustice’

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Hopelessly confused about how the Catholic Church and leaders at Jesuit universities view birth control, and blissfully unaware that a 36-count pack of Trojan-enz lubricated, latex condoms can be purchased at Amazon.com for just $13.97, student activists at Fordham University are demanding that the school provide free condoms on campus.

The activists at Fordham, which bills itself as “the Jesuit University of New York,” belong to a group called S.A.G.E.S. (The acronym stands for Sex and Gender Equity and Safety.) On its Twitter page, SAGES has an image of an erect condom.

In a Change.org petition, the group proclaims that a lack of access to free condoms is gravely inhumane.

“We believe that the lack of access to condoms and other essential contraceptives as well as sexual health services that promote the well-being of students’ minds, bodies, and spirits on campus is part of a troubling pattern of injustice within our campus and throughout the country that permeates every facet of our lives,” the petition declares.

The petition argues that the public display of free condoms at the private, Catholic university is necessary “to foster an environment in which students are encouraged to talk about sex in healthy and safe ways.”

They also demand “free and confidential” testing for sexually-transmitted diseases and, of course, transgender housing.

The Change.org petition has garnered only 218 supporters as of late Monday night, but SAGES activists are working to gather many more by hanging flyers all over campus and giving out free condoms at school events.

“The desire to go to an institution of learning should not mean that you have to sacrifice your health to do so,” said SAGES organizer Rachel Field, according to ThinkProgress.

“The UN has stated that birth control is a human right,” the senior added. “Why are we being denied human rights at Fordham?”

It’s not clear if Field realizes that condoms and other forms of birth control are readily and cheaply available all over New York City.

As ThinkProgress explains, Fordham’s birth control policy allows students to obtain birth control pills on campus, but only “for the treatment of an existing medical condition accompanied by supporting documentation.”

Field complained that she can’t get a Depo-Provera birth control shot on campus, so she had to find a doctor among the thousands of doctors in New York City to provide one.

ThinkProgress also recalls the plight of Sandra Fluke, the former student at Jesuit-affiliated Georgetown University Law Center, who testified about the contraceptive needs of co-eds before Congressional Democrats. Fluke is currently running for state senator in California. (RELATED: Of Course The Word ‘SLUT’ Appears In Candidate Sandra Fluke ‘Meet & Greet’ Press Release)

In March, the American Civil Liberties Union vaguely threatened to intercede against Boston College, another Jesuit school, if it didn’t allow condom-loving activists to hand out free condoms on campus. (RELATED: Boston College, ACLU Spar Over Underground Condom Railroad On Campus)

“BC is saying that they’re a private university, so we can do what we want,” an ACLU attorney claimed. “But that’s actually not true.”

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