Reproductive health advocates and Democratic lawmakers are intensifying calls for the FDA to make contraceptives available without a prescription.
Reproductive health advocates and Democratic lawmakers are intensifying calls for the Food and Drug Administration to make contraceptives available without a prescription ahead of a closely watched advisory panel meeting next month.Health experts say making HRA Pharma's Opill pill available without a prescription will prevent more unwanted pregnancies, and the need for abortions.
HRA partnered with the research organization Ibis Reproductive Health, which also leads the Free The Pill Coalition, a group that advocates for greater birth control access.More than 50 Democratic House lawmakers this spring pressed FDA commissioner Robert Califf to "follow the science" and swiftly consider applications for OTC birth control pills "without delay and based solely on the data.
Grossman noted past attempts to approve OTC birth control, but said this time, reproductive health advocates and medical providers have joined to "make sure that it's done in a way that improves access for populations that are currently facing barriers," meaning without age restrictions and at an affordable cost with insurance coverage.