More than 100 House members are urging congressional leaders to include language in a war spending bill to reverse the rising costs of birth control drugs and devices at health centers serving low-income women, including college students.

A Senate-passed supplemental spending bill includes a provision intended to accomplish that, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote to the Democratic and Republican leaders in each chamber to preserve the Senate language in the final version of the legislation.

A 2006 budget law created a disincentive for drug manufacturers to offer reduced-cost birth control drugs and devices to some health centers by removing university clinics and private birth control providers from the list of entities eligible for “nominal” pricing under the Public Health Service Act.

College newspapers have reported that the monthly cost of birth control on campuses has increased from as little as $5 to as much as $50.

The 2006 law was intended to crack down on abuses of the “nominal pricing exception.” But the lawmakers supporting the Senate provision contend Congress did not intend to apply tougher standards to birth control providers. The Senate-passed language would clarify that college clinics and other health centers are eligible for discounted birth control measures.

Supporters of the new language warn that increased birth control prices will result in unwanted pregnancies, particularly during the current economic crunch.