During her second week on campus her freshman year, a
hopeful 20-year-old Caroline Christ scheduled an appointment at St. Mary’s
Medical Center less than a block away from USF. “I’m sorry, but we don’t hand out
prescriptions for birth control here,” was the response she received from her
physician when she requested information about contraceptives. The following
year, she was forced to opt out of USF’s healthcare plan because it could not
provide her with a central health need, she said.
While many students understand why USF upholds a
conservative position on contraception, some students and faculty reject this
policy. As a Jesuit institution, USF does not promote nor provide contraception
of any kind to its students, in accordance with Catholic beliefs. However, as a
result of student efforts, USF has created a webpage offering a brief overview
about different forms of contraception, including abstinence, Christ said.
Raymond Dennehy, 80, a professor in the philosophy
department at USF, is among the few members of the USF community that supports
the ban on contraception. More specifically, he is against the use of birth
control because of its harmful affects on the individual. In his opinion,
providing contraception to students would be pointless. “People must be drunk
or stoned because they are not using contraception even when it is accessible.”
Increasing STD and abortion rates prove that people are choosing not to
practice safe sex even when contraceptive methods are obtainable, he says.
Despite his liberal standpoint, Kamal Harb, Director of
Health Promotion Services (HPS), respects USF for upholding their Jesuit values.
Before becoming a member of the USF community, Harb understood that he was going
to have to balance his viewpoint with that of the university’s traditional
principles. As director, his main responsibility is to provide students with
the facts and information they need to make informed decisions about their
health.
Throughout his eight years as a director of HPS, he says
he has witnessed progression. In cooperation with University Ministry, he
worked to create a webpage that offers information about contraceptive methods
while still adhering to USF’s traditional values. “There is an assumption by
many students that because USF is a Catholic Jesuit institution, we cannot talk
about sexual health, which is not true,” he says. The university is more than
willing to talk about sexual health. In fact, Harb coordinates workshops all
around USF’s campus to address student concerns and provide them with answers
to questions they may have in regards to their personal health.
While faculty members that were willing to speak on the
issue were in support of USF’s position, there were students who resent it.
Erin McNabb, 22-year-old Psychology major at USF, believes
the university’s policy has evolved to a certain degree, but is still limited. USF
follows a traditional notion that does not work well in our modern society, she
says. Considering that USF’s student body is approximately 65% female, by
refusing to offer contraception, USF is choosing to ignore the needs of a large
part of the community. Luckily, USF is located at the heart of a liberal city. “I
feel fortunate for myself and for other female students who are looking for
contraceptives that we live in a progressive city like San Francisco where
there are resources for us,” she says.
Samantha Lam, 21, Communication Studies major at USF, expressed
that her main concern with this policy is that it enforces certain religious
views on people who are non-catholic or of no faith. “I understand that USF is
a Jesuit institution, however, not everyone who attends the university is
Catholic,” she says.
Found on USF’s main website, it is stated that one of the university’s
core values is, “a
belief in and a commitment to advancing the Jesuit Catholic tradition that
views faith and reason as complementary resources in the search for truth and
authentic human development, and that welcomes persons of all faiths or no
religious beliefs as fully contributing partners to the University.” Therefore,
it does not make sense for USF to allow people from a multitude of
denominations to enroll and still impose the beliefs of a single religion on
the entire student body.
As a woman who just recently gained access to oral contraceptives, she
says “Not having access to birth control at USF was inconvenient because I
needed to consult my own medical provider for this, however, these resources
are readily available in San Francisco.” Aside from our local Planned Parenthood,
the closest resource for students is the Women’s Community Clinic on Fillmore. Lam
says she spent three months trying to find, not only a place that offered
contraception but also somewhere she felt comfortable being in and sharing
personal information.
For
Caroline Christ, 24, USF alum and intern for the Gender and Sexuality Center,
the university’s decision to not provide access to contraception places more
responsibility on its students. “It is a misconception that by providing these
safe resources the university is promoting sex.” This is not the case, she
says. Students should be given the opportunity to choose whether or not to use
contraception and it is part of USF’s job to support that choice. In addition,
she says, “Talking to someone about contraception can be a scary thing and it
would be helpful for the university to at the very least provide its students
with adequate information about it, if they cannot provide the actual tools for
safe sex.” Having these methods available on-campus would provide women with a
safe place to access basic reproductive health needs.
From
a male student’s perspective, ASUSF Junior Class Representative, Damian Guerra,
strongly believes that USF should provide contraception. “As a school that
promotes and teaches students about cultivating safe relationships, we should
have these resources readily available to us.” If USF were to change its policy
in the future and provide contraception to its students, it would positively
demonstrate that the university practices what they preach, he says.
In
the sea of opposition, there are still some students who defend USF.
According to senior Politics major, Julia Morreale, 21, “it
is within USF’s right to follow the church’s position. As a Catholic
University, they are required to.” Our school is very different from other
Catholic identified schools, she says. For example, by providing information
about contraception on its website, approving gender-inclusive housing, and
even organizing a Lavender Graduation to recognize LGBTQ and Ally members
proves that USF is making an effort to accommodate its students. “Just because
the university hold a certain perspective does not mean that it has to define
yours,” she says. It is expected for students to abide by this policy but
ultimately, the students have the right to choose what they want to believe. “I
support USF because their policy is justified.”
According the Harb, what many students, including myself
prior to the interview, are not aware of is the abundance of information and
resources that are made available to us by the university. Recently, the university’s
healthcare plan shifted from St. Mary’s Medical Center to Dignity Health. Those
who are covered under the university’s healthcare plan can now be prescribed
oral contraceptives by their physicians, according to Harb. Even before Dignity
Health, St. Mary’s Medical Center was allowed to prescribe oral contraceptives
for women who demonstrated a need for it due to serious health concerns. “I
would love for students to know that HPS is here for them to support and provide
them with education about their health and well-being.”
Student adversaries that were questioned on this issue believe
that USF’s policy has to change in the near future. A few of these students even
provided possible strategies that would move USF “in the right direction.”
Madeleine Warner, 22, an Art History major at USF says,
“Well I can’t rewrite Catholic doctrine, but USF can push safe-sex campaigns at
least,” similar to the sexual assault awareness campaigns the school organizes
every April.
According to Christ, she acknowledges that USF is
essentially a business that acquires a generous amount of funding from donors
who are strongly Catholic. She speculates that the reason USF refuses to
distribute contraception is systematic rather than religious. Therefore, to
improve the situation, she suggests designing a “counter-program” that would teach
those who are opposed to contraception why it is an essential part of a woman’s
reproductive health.
Still, expert sources on this issue do not expect USF’s
conservative policy to change.
Harb believes that providing information about
contraception is as far as USF will go. Before we can even begin to think about
providing contraception on-campus, he says, a health center would need to be
established first, which would occupy space and require an estimated four
million dollars, both of which USF does not have.
According to Professor Dennehy, maintaining an
abstinence-only ideology is the university’s attempt to remain Catholic, at
least on record. The Catholic Church teaches that contraception is
intrinsically immoral, he says. “Everyone knows students are screwing in the
dorms like mink- excuse my French- and the Jesuits aren’t doing anything about
it,” he says. Other than being consistent with church doctrine, he does not
believe USF is really a Catholic institution anymore.
While it appears that USF has been one of the more
flexible and accommodating Catholic institutions, most students are unaware of the
university’s efforts. As part of USF’s attempt to meet the needs of its
students, changes to the policy have been made. Information about sexual health
is provided on USF’s website and it is the student’s responsibility to search
for it if they are interested in learning more.
Under the school’s new healthcare plan, students can now
obtain prescriptions for contraceptives—an adjustment that I admit I had not
heard about, and one that would have made Caroline Christ’s life a lot easier as
a student four years ago.
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