Groundbreaking laws in two Western states will soon make access to birth control easier for millions of women by allowing them to obtain contraceptives from pharmacists without a doctor’s prescription.
Even as the Supreme Court prepares to consider another divisive case involving access to contraception, public health advocates hope these arrangements could spread across the country, as states grappling with persistently high rates of unintended pregnancy seek to increase access to birth control with measures that so far have been unavailable under federal law.
Most Western countries require a doctor’s prescription for hormonal contraceptives like pills, patches and rings, but starting sometime in the next few months, women in California and Oregon will be able to obtain these types of birth control by getting a prescription directly from the pharmacist who dispenses them, a more convenient and potentially less expensive option than going to the doctor.
Pharmacists will be authorized to prescribe contraceptives after a quick screening process in which women fill out a questionnaire about their health and medical histories. The contraceptives will be covered by insurance, as they are now.
The laws are the latest effort to make birth control more accessible, a longstanding goal of medical professionals and policy makers. But unlike other recent debates over contraception — including the firestorm over the Obama administration’s requirement under the Affordable Care Act that all health plans pay for contraceptives — these legislative efforts have been largely free of political rancor.
“I feel strongly that this is what’s best for women’s health in the 21st century, and I also feel it will have repercussions for decreasing poverty because one of the key things for women in poverty is unintended pregnancy,” said State Representative Knute Buehler, a Republican who sponsored Oregon’s law.
About half of the 6.6 million pregnancies annually in the United States are unintended, a higher proportion than in Europe.
Reproductive health groups and medical associations increasingly say the ultimate goal should be to make contraceptives available without a prescription, and some worry that the push for pharmacist-prescribed contraceptives could thwart that. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is one of the few groups to express opposition to these laws, arguing that hormonal contraceptives should be available solely over the counter.
“My basic tenet is there should be nobody between the patient and the pill,” said Dr. Mark DeFrancesco, the president of the organization. “I’m afraid we’re going to create a new model that becomes a barrier between that and over the counter. I worry that it’s going to derail the over-the-counter movement.”
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Personally I support OTC birth control, as this solves the question and cost of abortion without some of the moral imperatives. If we allow OTC birth control, along with better sexual education, we may be able to make a dent in the massive number of unwanted pregnancies, which either turn into abortions, adoptions, or bearing the child. Abortion is in some places impossible due to state laws limiting clinics ability to operate. Adoptions put cost on the state for foster care if the children are in a state facility, and not all children are always adopted by 100% able and loving parents. Bearing an unwanted child can cause ''lifetimes of underachievement and social distress for the unwanted children.''
So, NSG, what are your thoughts?
