"Why Liberals Oppose Over-the-Counter Birth Control"

"Removing the pharmacy-counter barrier between women and their birth control would give them vastly more, not less, power over their own health-care choices, also reducing health-care costs and improving access."

Right now, the federal government requires a prescription for birth control, even though other over-the-counter drugs (acetaminophen, for example) bear higher health risks, the directions are straightforward, and there’s no risk of overdose. Practically speaking, the prescription requirement keeps women beholden to their gynecologist, forcing them to submit to intrusive and uncomfortable once-a-year doctor’s visits in exchange for a pink slip for the pill. But while pelvic exams and Pap smears can help physicians detect everything from sexually transmitted diseases to cervical cancer, these procedures tell them basically nothing about whether a woman can safely take birth control. Authorities as prestigious as the World Health Organization and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have confirmed that doctors can safely prescribe the pill without a full examination. Just as with other low-risk drugs, women are perfectly capable of reading the warning label and self-screening for safety...

Making birth control over-the-counter would also vastly expand access, resulting in fewer unplanned pregnancies and abortions. In fact, unwanted pregnancies could decline as much as 25 percent, according to a new study released in February by the University of California–San Francisco, and nonprofit Ibis Reproductive Health.

“Women who are currently using methods that are less effective than the pill — mainly condoms or nothing — would use it,” the study’s author concluded. “Particularly low-income women.” 

#AskHillary