Dear Representative Gus Bilirakis

Dear Representative Gus Bilirakis,

My name is Elizabeth. I'm currently a sophomore in university studying History and Sociology. While I go to school further North, I grew up in your district and have every intention on moving back when I graduate to teach high school history. As a female constituent, I feel it is important for me to share with you my disappointment when I found out you are not a co-sponsor for the Prevention Through Affordable Access Act (H.R. 4054)/ S.2347).

Women have made tremendous advancements in the past hundred years as I'm sure you are well aware of. Back in 1916, Margaret Sanger (a personal hero of mine) was continually arrested and harassed for opening birth control clinics. Birth control, while made legal, was still only allowed for married women. Through hard work and dedication, birth control is now available to any woman. "Congress has expanded access to affordable prescription drugs by allowing pharmaceutical companies to offer low priced drugs to non-profit health centers and providers. This has made it possible for college health clinics and safety-net providers to purchase birth control at low prices in order to pass along the savings to the college students and low-income women who rely on them."

My birth control personally costs me $30 a month. Sometimes, I have to skip a month because as a college student on a limited income, I have to choose between birth control and getting gas to drive to work. I have been on birth control since I was fourteen because (I apologize for getting what may be construed as graphic here) I received my period for an entire month once. If I am not on my pill, I generally feel sick and will start my period again and it won't stop until I start my next pack. That may have been more information than you needed about me, but that is just one example about how prices of birth control affect women.

I found an article written specifically about Florida universities about this. Florida Atlantic University had a stockpile of birth control go completely empty because they weren't able to buy discounted birth control anymore to give at a reasonable price to women on campus. NuvaRing went from costing $15 to $42 and Ortho Tri-Cylen Lo went from $15 to $47.99. Another article I read stated similar facts. "Prices for name-brand drugs, such as Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, increased from $14 a month to $40 at most Florida universities, including the University of South Florida. The $20 monthly cost for the popular NuvaRing, a vaginal contraceptive, doubled to $40."

One solution I've read about is that insurance will pay for this hike increase and I want to make sure you understand that it is not that simple. I pay $30 and that is with my insurance. Without it, my birth control would cost about $60 per month. These co-payments are higher than what birth control would cost if originally received from