California – Women from California have a new option for acquiring their birth control pills because now there is no need to have a doctor’s prescription to buy them.
Since Friday, April 8, you can acquire them without prescription. Now users only have to fill out a health questionnaire, and then the pharmacist will consult with the patient what is the most appropriated form of birth control for her.
Back in 2013, a law allowed pharmacists from California to provide directly to their patients prescription contraceptives, bringing out a new alternative for any women regardless of age without stepping at a doctor’s office. However, it raised concerns among critics that it might be sending a wrong message to young teens.
Sen. Ed Hernandez introduced the Senate Bill 493, which allows the pharmacist to have the authority to provide pills, patches, rings and Devo-Provera injections prescription birth control methods for women.
The first state that empowered pharmacists with the right to prescribe birth control was Oregon, making California the second state in the country to do this.
John Roth, CEO of the California Pharmacists Association, said that “this is really an opportunity to expand health care.” Roth also sponsored the original legislation on behalf of the state’s 6,500 pharmacies.
“Community pharmacies are the face of neighborhood healthcare; open beyond normal business hours, and patients do not need an appointment to see their pharmacist. That means pharmacists providing contraception will go a long way to expand women’s birth control,” Roth added.
Just birth control products?
Aside from birth control products, also, the pharmacists have the “power” to prescribe products to make their patients stop smoking, traveling medications and expanded immunizations.
Now pharmacies are preparing to provide this service, along with many pharmacists that are still undergoing the training. On the other side, many women group, insurers, and health professionals supported this law and opponents from groups like California Right to Life raised against it.
Mothers know best?
Maria Klaiber, mother of 21 years old Karla Thompson said that “when you are under 21, you shouldn’t have the freedom to have birth control over the counters.” She also stated that birth control shouldn’t be that accessible, and that’s definitively a good issue for a mom and her daughter to discuss.
Source: CBS Sacramento