The January legislation, a special provision of the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act, that caused the price of birth control on college campuses to rise is putting undue stress on students and their pockets.

A major problem with the legislation is that the raise is much too high to be acceptable by any standards.

In some cases birth control prices have more than doubled, leaving students struggling to budget their money effectively.

Birth control isn't a luxury for every female college student -- in some cases these women need this medication. Polycystic ovary syndrome is one case which can leave women infertile but is easily treated by the contraceptive pill.

On the other hand, there are women who need the pill for contraceptive reasons and simply can't afford it.

These women and their partners will turn to less expensive and less safe measures of contraception.

One such risky behavior is relying primarily on the emergency birth control (ECP) pill after unsafe sex. The ECP's effectiveness decreases with time, and it is sometimes hard to procure this solution in a timely fashion.

At a university like Penn State, where students are already spending so much money on housing and tuition, it simply does not seem feasible to add another burden. Yes, in the long run the Deficit Reduction Act may slow the pace of Medicaid and Medicare spending, but this presents a catch-22.

It's hard for us, as college students, to care about Medicaid and Medicare at this point in our lives.

The prospect of becoming a parent at such a young age is infinitely more problematic to us now than the state of Medicaid and Medicare.

Supporters of the legislation point to discount birth control as an alternative to the more expensive brand name options. We're not talking about drugstore brand Tylenol here; we're talking about birth control. The differences between brand name and generic birth control medication are large. Women and their partners should be able to procur a reliable brand name medication in order to prevent pregnancy.

Women and their partners need to take control of this matter and fight it.

The American College Health Association is considering an advocacy letter-writing campaign for students to express their outrage at this legislation to their representatives in Washington.

This may not seem like much now, but you should take this opportunity and make sure your voice is heard.

Unwanted pregnancy is one of the most frightening issues facing college students today, and it just got scarier.