A week after the Plan B controversy broke out, a small group of protesters came out to the Prince Street entrance of Shippensburg University. Protesters arrived on Friday to show their disgust toward the university and its use of a vending machine to sell contraceptives.
The group, only identifying itself as members of the The Polycarp Research Institute, was out in full force on Friday morning with abhorrent signs regarding the Plan B machines in the university’s health center.
On their walk to campus, students were exposed to signs stating: “Plan B is a class A carcinogen,” “Pills are human pesticides” and “birth control is demographic suicide.”
With the exception of a few remarks, most students at SU were uninterested in the topic as most drove by without a passing glance.
Many questions arose from the protesters about the dispensing of the Plan B pill and how easy it was for students to obtain it. Some remained uneducated about the type of pill that SU is selling and where it was sold.
Despite their uncertainties, the protesters were vehement and believed that SU should be providing education and not abortion.
Flyers were handed out to passing students and media members stating that SU was selling abortion pills to its students and that Plan B was illegal to purchase without a prescription for women under the age of 18, yet minors were given access to it.
SU has been in the forefront of the national controversy surrounding the Plan B pill for over two weeks after the Public Opinion broke the story.
“Plan B is an over-the-counter medication available without prescription for those 17–years–old or older at pharmacies and drug stores around the nation. The health center is not dispensing RU-486, also called the abortion pill. The center is dispensing Plan B, a single dose medication that prevents implantation of a fertilized zygote, will not harm a developing embryo or fetus, and will not work on women who are already pregnant. Plan B does not contain estrogen and does not cause serious side effects in users,” SU President William Ruud said in a statement released early last week.
The protesters were offered a table inside the Ceddia Union Building, but denied the request.
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