Young women in America will soon pay as much as three times more for birth control.

Pricier birth control is one thing college students can’t afford with tuition constantly increasing, expensive books and gas prices continually rising.

The drug companies saw selling birth control at a lower cost as a good investment, as they hoped that college students would continue to use that birth control after college.

But the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 required drug companies to pay more money to be a part of Medicaid, therefore scrapping the reduced prices given to colleges. Before the bill was revised, pharmaceutical companies offered discounts to college health facilities. They banked on the idea that college women would become loyal to brand name birth control and stay with the brand after college, even when those handy discounts disappeared.

College health services bought birth control in bulk once the act was signed into law, to have a solid supply available bought at the cheaper price. Now that supplies are running out, NIU Health Services will have to purchase more birth control at the higher price, requiring college students to pay more.

If something gets too expensive, you either put up with it and pay, or stop buying. If prices get too high, college students may no longer be reliable consumers.

True, condoms remain, and while some may think condoms are annoying, having a 2-year-old screaming at 3 a.m. is more annoying. However, despite withstanding the test of time, couples now realize they’re not the only option.

Birth-control methods such as the pill allow couples to pre-plan for instances where fiddling with packages isn’t favorable, such as the infamous atomic-bomb-withstanding condom wrapper. It may seem silly, but people are used to more convenient methods like the patch or the ring, and without them, some may decide to forgo birth control altogether.

Contrary to popular belief among older generations, pushing abstinence is no longer a realistic option. Young people will have sex if they feel ready, not in accordance with whether contraceptives are available. If college students can’t afford birth control, they won’t stop having sex.

Without birth control at a reasonable price, pregnancy rates could rise even more. Unplanned pregnancies will continue to skyrocket. Abortions could also rise if the pregnancies are unwanted.

The only way to stop unplanned pregnancies is to provide adequate protection to those who need it.

While drug companies need to make money and the government must regulate costs, college students also need to be able to afford things that promote a healthy lifestyle. Birth control, for many young people, is a necessity to ensure that healthy lifestyle choices can be properly planned for.

Excluding college health providers from the Deficit Reduction Act would be the best solution to this problem. Allowing college health services to continue to offer discounts to penny-pinching students will send the message that America wants its youth to be mature and conscientious about their decisions.

The American College Health Association is pushing for colleges to be free from the control of this act, allowing students to continue to purchase birth control at the low prices at which they are currently able.

College students, of all people, need to save money where they can.

America needs to provide the right resources at a reasonable price.

Editor in Chief Nyssa Bulkes contributed to this column.