by Gretchen Borchelt
Today is the one year anniversary of emergency contraception – otherwise known as the morning-after pill – being approved for non-prescription use by women 18 and older. We refer to it as EC OTC – emergency contraception (EC) over-the-counter (OTC).
Now’s a good time to reflect on what EC becoming OTC has meant, and what barriers still remain.
Good news: More women are buying EC. Sales of Plan B®, which is the only EC pill on the market, have doubled since it was approved for non-prescription use. Clearly, removing unnecessary burdens – like requiring women to visit a doctor and get a prescription – means easier access to this important method of pregnancy prevention, which women will take advantage of.
But let’s not throw an EC anniversary party just yet. Serious obstacles remain. A new factsheet on this topic goes into them in more detail, but here’s a quick overview:
Lack of education. There is a real problem with lack of awareness among both consumers and pharmacy staff about how to access or provide EC OTC.
For example:
• Women don’t know that EC is kept behind the counter. So they may check the family planning aisle, thinking it should be with the other over-the-counter products. It’s not there – it’s behind the pharmacy counter!
• Pharmacy employees – including technicians and interns – don’t realize that they can check ID and sell the drug to women 18 and older. It doesn’t have to be the pharmacist!
• Pharmacy employees don’t know they can sell EC OTC to men. Anyone 18 and older can buy it!
• Pharmacy staff don’t know a person can buy as many packs as s/he wants. There’s no limit!
• And our usual refrain: women and pharmacists still need education about what EC is. It’s NOT the abortion pill!
Stocking. As this recent survey shows, women are still having trouble finding pharmacies that stock EC.
Minors’ Access. We’ve said this before and we’ll say it again. There is no scientific reason to force women under 18 to get a prescription for EC. The age limit is keeping young women from accessing a time-sensitive drug when they need it.
Cost and Insurance. EC is pretty expensive. We’ve heard of prices ranging from $35-$55. And now that it’s OTC, it’s unlikely that private insurance will cover it anymore. The cost and lack of insurance make EC unaffordable or barely affordable for many women. Women on Medicaid in particular are stuck between a rock and a hard place when they want to access EC. Some state Medicaid programs don’t cover EC at all; others still require adult women to get a prescription first.
Pharmacist Refusals. Since EC is kept behind the counter, women still must interact with refusing pharmacists. We have heard of a number of incidents like Grace’s where pharmacists refused to sell EC OTC to women.
So while we have some cheering to do on the year anniversary of EC OTC, much work remains to be done. Never fear, NWLC is hard at work on all of these barriers – our new factsheet outlines some of the solutions we are pursuing. Hopefully by the second anniversary that list will be much shorter, if not eliminated altogether, and women will have truly unfettered access to emergency contraception.
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