- The Women's Fund of Omaha unveiled their first public emergency contraception vending machine
- The vending machines contain Plan-B pills and pregnancy tests
- Watch to learn more about how you can access the vending machine isafely and discretely
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The Women's Fund of Omaha is uniting with neighborhood small businesses to give community members easy access to emergency contraceptives. They're doing so by expanding sexual health literacy and access with emergency contraception vending machines.
"When this idea was brought to us we immediately got on board because, this is what we've always done at the Women's Fund; we innovate, we look for ways we can reduce barriers, and where we can increase access," said The Women's Fund of Omaha Executive Directer Jo Giles.
Giles says this vending machine is the first of it's kind to be located in a neighborhood business. The machine contains eight dollar Plan-B pills and three dollar pregnancy tests.
"Not everyone feels comfortable going into a local pharmacy an often times emergency contraception in those places cost up to 50 dollars for a box," said Giles.
The vending machines help remove barriers for women like transportation, cost, and pharmacy hours of operation. Giles wants the community to know that even though the vending machines are new, their fight for reproductive care is not.
"We also have experienced over the last couple years where people are trying to censor even talking about sexual health and sexual health literacy so this another we we can provide that sexual health information," said Giles.
Nite Owl owner Katie Mock says she's happy her business can be a safe guard for women to go if they need to discretely purchase emergency contraception.
"It's in our bathroom which is a one stall bathroom, people have 100% privacy to get whatever they need," said Mock.
Items in the vending machine can be bought with card, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. The purchase will not show up on your bank statement as an emergency contraception or pregnancy test.
The Women's fund of Omaha has two emergency contraceptive vending machines at the Nite Owl in Blackstone and the other located in Benson at the Nebraska Aids Project.
