Over the counter.
Under our control.
Thanks to the Biden administration, you can now buy affordable birth control over the counter, putting reproductive rights back in your control.
As of March 18th, Americans will be able to purchase birth control over-the-counter for the first time in the United States. The groundbreaking change comes after the FDA last summer approved Opill, an oral contraceptive medicine, for sale without a prescription.
The availability of over-the-counter birth control has the potential to be life-changing for women across the country who find themselves subject to increasingly strict abortion bans and restrictions following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
How did we get here?
In May 2023, a panel of 17 independent scientific advisers to the FDA voted unanimously to approve the sale of Opill. [NYT]
In June 2023, the Biden Administration released an Executive Order on Strengthening Access to Affordable, High-Quality Contraception and Family Planning Services, which included a directive to several executive agencies to ramp up efforts to promote access to over-the-counter birth control. [White House]
It was announced that Opill will be available online and at major pharmacies by mid March 2024. [NPR]
How does this impact the fight for abortion rights and reproductive freedom?
Even before the Supreme Court overturned Roe, most Americans agreed that birth control should be free and widely available if abortion were outlawed. Studies show that lack of access to birth control increases the likelihood of unplanned pregnancies, and with the current state of abortion access in our country, the result can be dire. Today, 21 states either ban or restrict abortion, with many states layering on additional attacks on other aspects of abortion care and taking steps to criminalize pregnancy altogether, like attempts to restrict in-vitro fertilization. The critical state of abortion access in the U.S. right now highlights just how important contraceptive access is to reproductive freedom.
Over 10 million people use the birth control pill for contraception, with 82 percent of sexually active women having used the pill at some point. In fact, three in four women in America have said that the birth control pill is one of the most important medical advances of the last century and acknowledge the ways in which access to the pill has improved women’s lives. The reality is that Americans across parties overwhelmingly support access to the pill without needing a prescription, and a majority of Americans are supportive of the FDA allowing the pill to be sold over the counter.
In addition to the overwhelming public support for this effort, there are a number of reasons why making birth control accessible over the counter will help expand reproductive freedom at a time when we need it most. The prescription requirement for the birth control pill has added to a variety of other barriers – like unaffordable clinic visits and the time required to attend such a visit, restrictions on the number of packs of birth control pills one can buy monthly, and cost – can deter people from using this contraception method in the most effective way. When people are unable to access and use birth control consistently and correctly, they face an increased risk of unintended pregnancy and related threats to their health, the health of their families, and their economic security. Research suggests that making the pill available over the counter will make it easier for people to access birth control in their communities and has the potential to reduce unintended pregnancy by up to 25 percent.
The availability of safe and effective birth control over the counter means that people will be able to more easily access the contraceptive care they need and will ultimately improve the lives of people seeking reproductive health care. The pill is safe and will be available in pharmacies nationwide starting on Sunday, March 17th. According to reports, the suggested retail price of Opill is $19.99 for one month’s supply or $49.99 for three months’ supply.
Additional Stats on Over-the-Counter Birth Control:
80 percent of the global population already has over-the-counter access to the birth control pill.
About half (45 percent) of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended. Data suggests that removing prescription and financial barriers to the pill could reduce unintended pregnancy by up to 25 percent.
Leading family planning and OB-GYN medical authorities have determined that a prescription is not clinically necessary for access to the pill. This artificial requirement creates barriers for millions of people every year.