Women in California of any age can now obtain birth control without a doctor’s prescription from any pharmacy in the state.
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Then, the patient can either ask for a specific type of birth control, or ask the pharmacist for recommendations. This new legislation hopes to lead to fewer unintended pregnancies throughout the state.
Now, a pharmacist can prescribe several forms of contraception directly to women, thanks to the implementation of a law passed in 2013.
Anyone who needs to get self-administered birth control such as injections, the pill, the ring, and the patch, as well as injections, can walk into pharmacies and fill out a questionnaire. She wants to make it easier for women to obtain birth control, she said, but would prefer if doctors initially helped patients find the best ones for them, after which pharmacists could renew those prescriptions.
Medical guidance for cervical cancer screenings and Pap smears have changed, he said, and many women don’t need a Pap smear annually.
It took years for the state to settle on regulations before the law could go into effect.
“The point isn’t that women have to go to a pharmacy”, she said.
The regulations also follow federal guidelines that advise healthcare providers on the risks for different types of birth control, depending on the woman’s medical conditions.
Per the L.A. Times, when someone visits the pharmacy to get birth control, a pharmacist will first take her blood pressure, and ask for a questionnaire to ensure hormonal birth control is safe for her.
According to Mercury News, birth control can now be bought over the counter.
“They say it’s for women, but they mean anyone”, including teenage girls, California Right to Life spokeswoman Camille Giglio said. “The move toward pharmacists prescribing birth control is part of a larger national trend toward team-based health care in which doctors and other medical professionals work together to oversee an individual’s health care”.
The law also allows pharmacists the ability to perform other expanded duties, including prescription smoking cessation services, travel medications, and expanded immunizations.
Insurance companies should cover the cost of birth control picked up at pharmacies, though it’s possible that pharmacists could charge for furnishing the birth control. Dr. Donna Harrison of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists explained that the advice of a personal physician when selecting birth control is key as they can give valuable advice to the various side effects that can occur when on the pill.
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But Mountain View resident Molly Junkins, 24, a barista studying to be a medical assistant, said she thought the new option for birth control should have happened a long time ago.
