The first over-the-counter birth control pill will be sold in stores in all 50 states starting in March. One month’s supply of Opill will cost $20. The hormone-based contraceptive received FDA approval for over-the-counter sales last year but the pill itself has been prescribed to patients for more than 50 years.
However, patients will no longer need a prescription or an ID since there’s no age restriction to purchase Opill.
The expanded access to birth control is being considered a victory by reproductive rights group like Youth Reproductive Equity.
“This is historic and transformative for reproductive rights without having to go to a physician, which presents a barrier to many people,” Julie Maslowsky, founder of Youth Reproductive Equity, told The Washington Post.
Mifepristone, the abortion pill at the center of a high-profile contraceptive controversy, is also hitting pharmacies.
This month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments and make a ruling in June determining how accessible mifepristone can be. Until that ruling, CVS and Walgreens will start filling prescriptions for the abortion pill inline with current FDA guidelines, which could change depending on how the Supreme Court rules.
Both CVS and Walgreens said Mifepristone will only be sold at select pharmacies in states where abortion laws allow it, which currently amount to half of the U.S.
Coming up on two years since Roe v. Wade was overturned, there have been many court battles over abortion pills and procedures.
Since the power to regulate abortion was returned to the states, the current landscape is 21 states have some sort of abortion restrictions through at least 18 weeks and 26 states have legally protected abortions through at least 22 weeks. The other three states have abortion bans that have been blocked in courts.
Since the power to regulate abortion was returned to the states, the current landscape is as follows: 21 states have some form of abortion restrictions in place through at least 18 weeks, while 26 states legally protect abortions up to at least 22 weeks. The remaining three states have abortion bans that have been blocked by courts.
Wyoming is one of those states with a trigger ban that has been blocked by a judge, but the state Legislature is passing legislation to still regulate the procedure at Wyoming’s one remaining legal abortion clinic.
A bill that recently passed the state House and Senate is likely to be signed into law this month. The Regulation of Surgical Abortions Bill requires abortion clinics to be licensed as surgical centers.
The bill also requires that doctors performing the abortion must be licensed and have admitting privileges at a hospital within a 10 mile radius of the surgical center. It also requires the woman to have an ultrasound 48 hours before the abortion. An ultrasound would give the woman her safest options to proceed with the abortion, whether by pill or procedure, according to proponents of the bill.
Wyoming is the latest example of how abortion laws are still being worked through in a post-Roe presidential election year where stances on the issue widely vary.
“The only effect of all this legislation, as I see, is really trying to terrorize women that are interested in having abortions and make it very challenging for any doctors to provide those abortions at the risk of potentially violating laws and ending up in prison,” Wyoming Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D, said regarding the new bill.
State House Rep. Martha Lawley, R, the bill’s sponsor, said her motivations for the legislation came from a place of “regulatory concern.”
“I was focusing on the fact that we really weren’t regulating surgical abortions in particular, or even chemical abortions,” Lawley said. “While [abortion] is legal in Wyoming, we need to look at the safety of women that are choosing abortions.”
