SINCE LAST spring, Manassas Del. Bob Marshall has led a crusade to deny Virginia students their rights as patients within their own student health clinics. He sent letters to certain Virginia colleges muddling the medical definition of emergency contraception and demanding that the schools strip their clinics of this vital service. But before any real debate can begin concerning why one might think it wise to eradicate such a service, one must recognize that most of the information being touted as scientific fact by Marshall is, in fact, a thinly-veiled excuse to impose his questionable morals on Virginia students.
The term "emergency contraception" is not a misnomer. The drug keeps pregnancy from occurring -- by preventing ovulation, fertilization or implantation. If a woman was actually pregnant when taking the drug, it would have no effect on the implanted egg. The Food and Drug Administration, Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore and hundreds of thousands of medical professionals agree: EC is a form of contraception, not abortion.
However, the current dispute is not one of medicine. If it was, then EC would be a topic of debate between clinicians, not the subject of a politician's assault on the human and patient rights of Virginia students, as well as the ability of health clinics to properly serve them. I make no pretense about being an expert on EC. The issue at hand is not one of medical expertise, but one of personal responsibility.
Luckily, the U.Va. Board of Visitors, who actually has some authority on this matter, understands this. The Board grants authority in budgeting, hiring and establishing standards of care to the clinicians of Student Health, and I applaud them for doing so. The Board does not waste time by questioning every detail of modern medical practice; it delegates those decisions to the professionals.
Sadly, there are those who abuse their public office by thrusting their morals onto the general public. The vast majority of University students do not permanently reside in the area of Del. Marshall's jurisdiction, and yet he has christened himself regulator of their bodies and health options. With no medical background and no personal experience with EC, Marshall has decided that emergency contraception is both a form of abortion and a means for students, or "co-eds," to use his own dated vocabulary, to have irresponsible sex. The fact is that EC, along with other modern education and contraception techniques, actually reduces the number of abortions needed. In 1982, Student Health saw between 180 and 200 unwanted pregnancies, 95 percent of which were ended in abortion. In 2002, they saw 18.
But, as I said, medical fact is not at the heart of the Marshall dilemma.
In a university of 18,000, diversity exists and must be acknowledged, not only in race and culture, but also in sexuality. The University student body includes a broad spectrum of sexual experience. The decisions of when, where and how to have sex is one that each student is capable of making on their own without being bullied into feeling inferior or immoral by a delegate with whom they have no affiliation. In Marshall's ideal world, he would see no sexual activity among college students whatsoever, and, if students did manage to decide themselves capable of controlling their own bodies, he would see them punished for accepting the responsibilities that come with that decision.
Perhaps Marshall's intimidations work on some college administrations, but he should have gained a more thorough understanding of this university before attempting to use them here. The University of Virginia prides itself on true student self-governance. Our administration is able to respect and recognize the students' ability to control their own lives -- academic, social and yes, even sexual.
What it comes down to is that Del. Marshall has not only enormously overstepped his bounds but has also chosen to tackle an issue that he clearly has not taken the time to fully understand. One can only hope that the public understands that Marshall's view is an uninformed opinion and not medical fact. An adult's choice of contraception, emergency or otherwise, is a matter to be discussed with his or her partner and if they should so choose, a medical professional. It's time for Marshall to realize that he has no more right to control our sexual health than we have to control his.
(Katy Shrum is president of the National Organization for Women at the University. She is a third year in the College of Arts and Sciences.)
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