![]() In the last year, the FDA has faced pressure from Democratic politicians, health advocates and medical professionals to improve access to birth control. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a separate opinion in which he explicitly called on his colleagues to put the high court’s same-sex marriage, gay sex and contraception cases on the table. However, that has done little to ease fears that contraception could someday become a target. ![]() “Hopefully this will help people overcome those barriers that exist now.” “This is really a transformation in access to contraceptive care,” said Kelly Blanchard, president of Ibis Reproductive Health, a nonprofit group that supported the approval. The challenges can include paying for a doctor’s visit, getting time off from work and finding child care. Teens and girls, women of color and those with low incomes report greater hurdles in getting prescriptions and picking them up. Medical societies and women’s health groups have pushed for wider access for decades, noting that an estimated 45% of the 6 million annual pregnancies in the U.S. Until now, all of them required a prescription. Hormone-based pills have long been the most common form of birth control in the U.S., used by tens of millions of women since the 1960s. ![]() The manufacturer, Ireland-based Perrigo, won’t start shipping the pill until early next year, and there will be no age restrictions on sales. The Food and Drug Administration cleared once-a-day Opill to be sold without a prescription, making it the first such medication to be moved out from behind the pharmacy counter. WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators on Thursday approved the nation’s first over-the-counter birth control pill in a landmark decision that will soon allow American women and girls to obtain contraceptive medication as easily as they buy aspirin and eyedrops. ![]()
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