A bill that would allow women to obtain birth control pills or patches from a pharmacy without a doctor’s prescription is sailing through the legislature. It may be only a matter of months before these contraceptives are available directly through pharmacists, who would be charged with screening for appropriateness of the medication and empowered to write the prescription.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Steve Dickerson (R-Nashville), an anesthesiologist, and Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin), a pharmacist, passed quickly through the Senate and today through the House Subcommittee on Health.
“Sometimes women have difficulty getting into a doctor’s office, or they are busy working, or they don’t have coverage,” says Rep. Patsy Hazelwood (R-Signal Mountain), who sponsored the House bill. The requirement that women get a doctor’s prescription is an impediment to easy access. “This gives women who want to plan when they have their children the opportunity to do that,” Hazelwood said. Giving up physician screening doesn’t worry Hazelwood. “The risk of a problem pregnancy is greater than the risk associated with birth control,” she said. In addition, a physician would be collaborating with the pharmacist.
Both the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) maintain that the bill doesn’t go far enough. Both support easier access to the contraceptives, as half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended. However, AAFP and ACOG have issued statements in favor of making contraceptive medications available over-the-counter with no prescription at all.
“Requiring a pharmacist to prescribe and dispense oral contraceptives only replaces one barrier — a physician’s prescription — with another. This is not going to allow us to reach women who remained underserved by the current prescribing requirements,” according to a statement by ACOG.
Sen. Dickerson says the current bill doesn’t call for (continue reading at Nashville Banner)