Its tear-away fliers are tacked to the restroom stalls throughout City College, sticking out like crumpled wings. In clear, precise print the tiny fliers read “Free STD Screening.”
It is by these discreet means that Planned Parenthood advertises its services at City College.
Every Tuesday, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., a Planned Parenthood representative is available to assist students behind the counseling center in Rodda North 125. Visitors have the option of making appointments or simply walking in.
“There’s a grant called Family PACT (Planning, Access, Care, Treatment) that covers students, and that’s how Planned Parenthood is able to be here so you can get birth control, STD checks, pregnancy testing all for free,” said City College nurse Wendy Gomez.
According to the Family Pact website, the program provides “no-cost family planning services to low-income men and women, including teens.”
Sexual health is an important issue for numerous students on campus, according to Gomez.
“We are young and we’re at an age when we want to experience sex, and I think it’s really great that we have [Planned Parenthood] on campus,” said business major Laura Rodriguez.
“It’s good for people to know what we offer [birth control] instead of feeling ashamed of it and not using it at all.”
According to Raquel Simental, public affairs director of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, the organization’s satellite services on campus makes it convenient for busy students to get refills for their birth control prescriptions.
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Simental explained that the birth control methods currently available to students on City College campus include Ortho-tricyclin, Syronex, the OrthoEvra patch and Depo-Provera, a birth control method administered by a needle.
In recent years the NuvaRing has been made available to students. It is a flexible hormonal ring that is inserted into the vagina. It releases low doses of estrogen and progestin, which prevents ovulation in women.
Plan B, the emergency contraceptive pill made by Next Choice is also available on campus. It is commonly known as “the morning after pill.” It is also sometimes mistaken for an abortion pill. Simental clarified that Plan B prevents implantation and conception for up to five days after sex but cannot terminate a fetus.
“Having access to condoms and birth control takes away any excuse we have to not to have protected sex,” said biology student Will Jackson.
Safe sex is a goal that Planned Parenthood as an organization promotes. It offers free STI testing for gonorrhea, chlamydia and HIV on campus.
Gonorrhea and chlamydia infections are detected through urine tests. A rapid 10-minute
blood test is used to detect HIV. Simental explained that more comprehensive forms of STI testing can be performed at Planned Parenthood clinics.
“We’re getting more aware as a society that you need to get checked [for STDs] from time to time,” Gomez said.
According to Simental, 523 students used Planned Parenthood satellite services in 2010.
For more information, please contact Isela Chavez at (916) 325-1708.
