Spring Break
Contraceptives available for medical needs
ND Health Services prescribes birth control for health reasons, not pregnancy prevention
Jenn Metz
Issue date: 12/4/07 Section: News
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Notre Dame students cannot receive birth control prescriptions or pills at Health Services unless they demonstrate a medical - not contraceptive - need for the medication.
If a student comes in asking for birth control for the purpose of contraception, "we're not going to ask a lot of questions," said Ann Kleva, director of University Health Services.
"We'll say point blank, 'I'm sorry, we don't supply those services on campus because we abide by the teachings of the Church,'" she said. "We're not here to judge anybody. That's one avenue, one medical practice that we just do not participate in."
Health Services does not refer students to places off campus where birth control can be obtained. Kleva said it's very unlikely a student would not be able to find out the name of a location online, from friends or in a phonebook.
"If they're definite that's what they want, I'm sure they'll find a provider on their own," she said.
If a student has certain medical symptoms, however, birth control pills can be prescribed and provided at Health Services, Kleva said. Such scenarios include patients with irregular or painful menstrual cycles, no menstrual cycle or abdominal pain.
In these cases, physicians "can and will prescribe birth control after a complete exam and evaluation if there is justifiable reason," she said.
During such an exam, physicians will rule out other abnormalities that could be causing abdominal pain, which could range from "a hot appendix to an ovarian pregnancy," she said.
The hormones necessary to regulate cycles could be packaged in birth control, which Kleva said is "very effective" for that purpose.
Whether the patient on birth control has or will have sex is a conversation that may happen between the doctor and a patient, Kleva said. Questions about sexual activity, like those about the patient's menstrual cycle, are "normal questions to ask a female" during an exam to rule out pregnancy, she said.
If a student comes in asking for birth control for the purpose of contraception, "we're not going to ask a lot of questions," said Ann Kleva, director of University Health Services.
"We'll say point blank, 'I'm sorry, we don't supply those services on campus because we abide by the teachings of the Church,'" she said. "We're not here to judge anybody. That's one avenue, one medical practice that we just do not participate in."
Health Services does not refer students to places off campus where birth control can be obtained. Kleva said it's very unlikely a student would not be able to find out the name of a location online, from friends or in a phonebook.
"If they're definite that's what they want, I'm sure they'll find a provider on their own," she said.
If a student has certain medical symptoms, however, birth control pills can be prescribed and provided at Health Services, Kleva said. Such scenarios include patients with irregular or painful menstrual cycles, no menstrual cycle or abdominal pain.
In these cases, physicians "can and will prescribe birth control after a complete exam and evaluation if there is justifiable reason," she said.
During such an exam, physicians will rule out other abnormalities that could be causing abdominal pain, which could range from "a hot appendix to an ovarian pregnancy," she said.
The hormones necessary to regulate cycles could be packaged in birth control, which Kleva said is "very effective" for that purpose.
Whether the patient on birth control has or will have sex is a conversation that may happen between the doctor and a patient, Kleva said. Questions about sexual activity, like those about the patient's menstrual cycle, are "normal questions to ask a female" during an exam to rule out pregnancy, she said.