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MINIPOLL

OB/GYNs: Birth Control Should Be Sold Over the Counter

Do you agree?

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by Mary Noble

Senior Editor t

Image: thedailyfemme.com

Birth control pill are safe to sell over the counter, like condoms, according to the influential American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

The surprise announcement will lend support to women's health groups who've been campaigning for over-the-counter birth control. But it's unlikely to happen any time soon, because any company that wants to sell pills direct to consumers would have to get FDA approval first - and as we know, the FDA wheels turn slowly.

ACOG made the announcement in the hope of expanding access to the contraceptive pill. Birth control pill use will likely increase if they're sold over the counter, CNN predicts. Sales of "Plan B" emergency contraception went up after it was made available to buy over the counter.

But some women won't be able to afford to pay for the pills themselves, and it's not clear how they'd be covered under Obamacare, which requires workplace health plans to pay for women's birth control as "preventive care."

Via Slate, the AP, and CNN.
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Should birth control pills be sold over the counter?

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Comments (view in Forum)

  • o
    JpMonty
    !
    And again I catch myself agreeing with ya DARSB... Very seldom... Might I add that if they were sold over the counter, then that would cut out the chance of public funding! But, then again I'm already contidicting myself with the thought of the government making it legal to some how purchase these "over the counter" contraceptives with EBT cards or some type of waiver... Mmmm... I guess that's what I get from being a "realist"...
  • u
    Realthinker
    !
    Exactly what I was going to say. I knew a young woman who died of a blood clot due to birth control pills when she was just 27 years old. If there isn't some form of prescreening available, the manufacturers will be blamed and sued.
  • PoliticalSpice
    !
    @Realthinker
    Well i do beleive they should be available, i just want paitent education. Smoking (tobacco) and the pill greatly increase blood clot risk. Perhaps avalable at a pharmacy over the counter after receiving certification you have taken a class on safety, side effects and use. I am all for giving the women choice, but don't want to see a situation where there indiviual health and safety gets short shrift in an effort to acheive a public health goal of reducing teen pregnancy...
  • u
    Realthinker
    !
    @Elliotsreport I agree safe effective birth control will help reduce the number of abortions. There will be many who ignore the warnings regarding the pill. I've been there. I confess to smoking through a number of years while taking the pill. So did three of my daughters. This in spite of what we had witnessed. As usual, while trying to solve one problem, we will be opening a can of unintended consequences. I don't have the answer to this.
  • PoliticalSpice
    !
    @Realthinker
    The only answer is education, in the end we have to respect the person has a right to do what they please, but at least you knew the risk. My fear is with over the counter sales people will not even have this minimal education...
  • Fishbone345
    !
    @Realthinker Tylenol, Advil and other OTC painkillers have caused serious issues in the past and continue to. You can't legislate stupidity. People will find ways to abuse things, we shouldn't have to have the Government watch over them any more than it should anyone else.

  • View all 65 replies >

  • Neo_NtheMatrix
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    Promiscuous behavior is spinning out of control. Oh how I long for a simpler time when people weren't so cynical and in such a rush to engage in activities that they are not prepared to deal with the consequences of.
  • DARSB
    !
    Are you saying over the counter BCPs will increase promiscuous behavior (and this is an argument against)? You might have point - I know I can't chew enough rusty nails ever since I had that tetanus shot.:-)
  • Neo_NtheMatrix
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    @DARSB - I think I was clear in saying that I long for a time when people weren't in a rush to engage in activities that they are not prepared to deal withe consequences of. This world is moving so fast. It's sad to see a young woman become a mother at age 16, even sadder to see that same woman become a grandmother at 32. So many lives have been ruined, generation after generation. That's all I'm saying. I said nothing about birth control pills and what they would or wouldn't do.
  • PoliticalSpice
    !
    @Neo_NtheMatrix
    You actually were not very clear, and on that limited point re: the tragedy of a 16 yr old becoming a mother, grandmother @ 32, on that we agree, but as long as 16 yr olds have sex that will happen if they don't use contraception, and regardless of what anyone thinks or feels, 16 yr olds will continue to have sex...sadly not as much in my day as now :)

  • View all 37 replies >

  • mimi57
    !
    Yes, and where there's a will, there's a way...for centuries woman have over-come and "sacrificed" a whole ten
    dollars. If I couldn't afford ten bucks, I'd have to change my priorities and instead of having sex, I'd get a job, or
    at least a lover who can afford a condom!
  • mimi57
    !
    Should have read "for centuries woman have not needed government assistance and managed their own ways of
    birth control and 'sacrificed''...now, who can't afford ten bucks?! Sell them OTC. who cares?

  • View all 92 replies >

  • Thunderchicken
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    IMO There are many things that should be available over the counter. If birth control pills are deemed safe when used as directed, I see no problem with it. FWIW I'd like Vicoden to be available over the counter too.
  • Ashstop
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    I think they should be but with restrictions, like cigarettes and beer, if your of age then yes, of course this will create a black market for them to the underage if they aren't someway regulated, for instance, an 18 year old student could buy them ( or let Obama buy them for her) by the case and sell them to Jr.High kids, It might cut down on unwanted pregnancies but increase std's.
  • dances-weebles
    !
    where we live anybody over the age of menstruation can walk into any drug store and buy birth control pills any time they wish. if they don't have the money to pay the pharmacist has to mark it down and send the bill to her parents if he chooses. most times they don't, however.
  • Ashstop
    !
    @Elliotsreport
    If more kids had access to the pill they would probably have more unprotected sex which would probably lead the more std's... Probably
  • PoliticalSpice
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    @Ashstop
    I would guess most people would use the contraception to have sex with their girlfriend or boyfriend. Stds will probably spread at the sane rate they would otherwise. You know oral sex also spreads stds, that is probably more in use then abstinence.
  • Ashstop
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    @Elliotsreport I meant more sex in general, some of the restraint is I'm sure the fear of getting pregnant, with the increase overall of sex, even if the percent of unprotected sex stayed the same, the actual number of cases would increase simply because more are active

  • View all 6 replies >

  • Post Removed by Moderators
  •
    jessejaymes
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    That is utter nonsense. If a woman is given RU486 within a week of sex and the microscopic fertilized egg is aborted she would never even know it. Utter nonsese and how in god's name did you manage to work anal sex into that?
  • Post Removed by Moderators
  •
    DARSB
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    Your age limit idea would make perfect sense if young women waited until age 18 to have sex, but, sadly...

    And here's another consideration - Plan B sales, in most states, have no age limits, which makes sense in light of the age range of the " fertile and flirty" crowd.
  • FollowTheMoney
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    @DARSB Parents are responsible for their kids until 18. They ought to know if their kids are taking drugs of any kind, that's all.
  • jessejaymes
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    The risks of BC are minimal compared to the cost of keeping them from being sold OTC. Less abortion, less welfare, less dead beat dads, less violence on unwanted kids. I say HELL YES!!!
  • jessejaymes
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    @Jasonopolis that too but the horror for me is reading about kids who are abused by parents who are simply too young to be parents.
  • u
    Jasonopolis
    !
    @jessejaymes No, I am saying don't call them "unwanted kids". Call it unplanned pregnancies, or something. Once a child is born society should rally to make sure he/she is not unwanted.(sure a far cry, but a hope)
    I understand what you are saying though....
  • Pepper
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    ''The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or one''

    This was a quote from Leonard Nimoy's Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan but you get the idea.....I hope.
  • twinertia
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    You should read up on fertility drugs (they can't be prescribed over-the-counter because the monitoring process involves too many other related areas). Also, reading the article, it's unclear whether fertility drugs will fall under any of the "Obamacare" categories (and even if they did, it wouldn't be "free", as workplace/individual healthcare plans will require people to pay premiums). Were it up to me, I'd like to see them covered.
  • u
    Jasonopolis
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    @twinertia What about Viagra? Hysterectomies? Vasectomies? Ovarian Cancer treatment? Prostate problems?(just curious how far it goes)

  • View all 8 replies >

  • u
    Jasonopolis
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    Birth control pills are no less "available" when they are sold by prescription.
    But either way it doesn't really matter to me. Not a big issue.
    Just not agreeing with some of the reasons for deregulation.
  • jessejaymes
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    With all due respect you are not living in the real world. The average age for girls and boys having sex has been dropping for several decades. This is where you start with cradle to grave welfare.
  • u
    Jasonopolis
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    @jessejaymes I don't disagree, I just don't care that much. Look dude, condoms have been available in gas station bathrooms for as long as I can remember. They have also been available in any store imaginable. Irresponsible people are still not using them, and they will continue to not use them as they will continue to not use birth control pills no matter where you place them in a store.

    My only argument was that some people were saying that to not offer them over the counter was to reduce the availability, and I was calling them out as BS.

    I take it that you didn't even read my post.....
  • jessejaymes
    !
    @Jasonopolis Do you actually think a ghetto girl is going to somehow come up with a prescription for birth control pills as easily as they could just walk up to the register and purchase them like they purchase a soda? It's just not the case man.

  • View all 6 replies >

  • Fishbone345
    !
    Keep preaching Abstinence because it works so well. Hence the states that preach Abstinence have the highest teen pregnancy rates.
    No! Surely that's a coincidence, or a made up number from the Liberal media!!
    http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles...
    http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/04/10/46...
    http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-04-10/ne...
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/27/feat...

    Abstinence doesn't work. That's fact. There are more than enough studies to show that its a bunch of bullsh%t. So wake up! Stop preaching BS at our kids and tell them what you would like them to do. And then give them a backup plan, because they are kids and won't listen to you.
    Time for the a55hats of American to realize their Utopia doesn't f#$%%ing exist.
  • jessejaymes
    !
    You know I am more conservative than you. I am against surgical abortion as nothing more than birth control. But it will exist in some for regardless of what laws might be put in place, so I advocate for the morning after pill, FREE birth control. My god how much would we save from Welfare, food stamps, medicaid, courts, prisons, cops. The savings are endless. And yet, here we go again. The religious right doesn't want birth control because it cut into their collection plate. But they don't give a damn what that selfishness costs society.
  • Fishbone345
    !
    @jessejaymes "You know I am more conservative than you. I am against surgical abortion as nothing more than birth control."
    How I feel on that subject is irrelevant. I don't think the Federal Government should legislate it. That's all.
    I think people wouldn't get so worked up about it if it weren't an issue. And it wouldn't be if things like this would go through. We both win.
  • jessejaymes
    !
    @Fishbone345 That was my point fishbone. I don't like it but people did it before Roe V Wade and they'll do it no matter what. Rather than try to legislate morality (which never works) why not provide simpler alternatives is all I'm saying.
  • Fishbone345
    !
    @jessejaymes Exactly. The reasons for getting there are moot. The end result is a good one.
    Now if only other issues were this easy. ;)
  • u
    classychazy
    !
    This is bad ideal there are some women that should NEVER take the pill and another group of women who can have a variety of reactions. This is one drug that should always be prescribed not over the counter.
  • u
    cpeter133
    !
    As much as I believe there should be easy access to bc, the risks associated with the pill require medical oversight. But I think a nurse or pharmacist would be able to do spot-checks to follow blood pressure and other side-effects, which should satisfy the insurance aspects.
  • u
    seedtick
    !
    No, because of the problems some women or girls can have with particular birth control products. If a woman or girl can purchase birth control pills without first seeing a doctor there will be many problems arise and they could have long range effects. I personally feel that a woman should be able to use birth control if she wants to, but she should have to pay for it herself.
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