DES MOINES (AP) &#8212 More than 400 Iowa college students have signed a petition protesting federal legislation that has made getting birth control more expensive.

The 2005 Deficit Reduction Act went into effect in January and changes the way manufacturers calculate Medicaid-related rebates to states, making it more costly for states to offer college discounts.

The higher prices are for college women without or not using insurance. Prices for birth control products, such as Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, have increased from $15 a pack to $53 a pack at student health centers at Iowa’s three public universities.

The petition includes students from Iowa’s private universities.

“We think affordable birth control is something we can all agree on,” said Dana Gustafson, junior at Drake University and member of an abortion-rights group that has lobbied for the petition drive.

The petition will be presented to Sen. Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley next month, said Julie Stauch, vice president of governmental affairs at Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa.

The petition is part of a nationwide effort coordinated by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Petitions on the cost of birth control are being signed at campuses across the country.