Should the Birth-Control Pill Be Sold Without a Prescription?
The Oral Contraceptive Over-the-Counter Working Group, a group of health workers and women’s health care advocates, are hoping to prove that the birth control pill is safe for nonprescription use. They believe that the requirement for women to have a prescription to access one of the most common forms of contraception is a barrier to contraceptive freedom and ineffective at countering teen pregnancy rates. Their goal is to have a proposal before the FDA within one year, and an over-the-counter pill available to the public in 5 years. Although the majority of oral contraceptives are a “combination” pill of estrogen and progesterone, the group is working toward making a progesterone-only pill available over-the-counter, which has fewer health risks associated with long-term use and contains the same hormone that is currently marketed over-the-counter in emergency birth control. Once this proposal is approved by the FDA, the next step will be to minimize costs so that the pill will be affordable to low-income women and teenagers. (Source: Newsweek) Read the full article HERE
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