Morning-after pill vending machines gain popularity on college campuses post-Roe

A vending machine is stocked with emergency contraceptives at Odegaard Library on the campus of the University of Washington, Friday, June 2, 2023, in Seattle. After a student-led campaign to install the emergency contraceptive vending machine on campus in November, boxes of generic Plan B have been available to students for $12.60, a fraction of the cost charged in stores. (Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times via AP) A vending machine is stocked with emergency contraceptives at Odegaard Library on the campus of the University of Washington, Friday, June 2, 2023, in Seattle. After a student-led campaign to install the emergency contraceptive vending machine on campus in November, boxes of generic Plan B have been available to students for $12.60, a fraction of the cost charged in stores. (Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times via AP)

By ED KOMENDA and SUSAN HAIGH / Associated Press July 1, 2023 4 min read

SEATTLE (AP) — Need Plan B? Tap your credit card and enter B6.

Since last November, a library at the University of Washington has featured a different kind of vending machine, one that’s become more popular on campuses around the country since the U.S. Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for abortion last year. It’s stocked with ibuprofen, pregnancy tests and the morning-after pill.

With some states enacting abortion bans and others enshrining protections and expanding access to birth control, the machines are part of a push on college campuses to ensure emergency contraceptives are cheap, discreet and widely available.

There are now 39 universities in 17 states with emergency contraceptive vending machines, and at least 20 more considering them, according to the American Society for Emergency Contraception. Some, such as the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, are in states where abortion is largely banned.

Over-the-counter purchase of Plan B and generic forms is legal in all 50 states.