UK Top 10 News

Student activists at Catholic colleges across the United States are establishing covert contraceptive delivery networks to bypass institutional restrictions, ensuring their peers have access to vital sexual health supplies.
These universities, adhering to church teachings that discourage premarital sex and birth control, typically prohibit the distribution of contraceptives on campus or at school-run health centres.
At DePaul University in Chicago, students run a 'womb service,' a clandestine operation that delivers condoms and emergency contraception off-campus.
The group was forced to operate off-campus after the university revoked its status as a student organisation in June over its affiliation with Planned Parenthood, arguing that the distribution of ‘inappropriate’ items went against the institution's mission and values.
Maya, a student involved, described the operation as having the handoff ‘down to a science’—a text, a walk, and a paper bag delivery.
Similarly, at Loyola University, the Students for Reproductive Justice group, denied registered status since 2016, delivers supplies and hosts ‘Free Condom Friday’ near bus stops.
Organisers, like Alyssa Suarez Tineo, argue that Loyola’s motto of ‘cura personalis’ (care for the whole person) is not being upheld.
Jill Delston, an associate professor who studies contraception access, notes that this lack of access impacts students’ ‘bodily autonomy’ and their ‘ability to pursue their goals’ and careers.
The students' efforts are seen as a necessary pushback against restrictive policies, with Maya hoping more students on Catholic campuses challenge their universities’ stances, stating, 'It is possible, it is feasible.
And you’re not alone in this fight.'