Oregon is on the verge of becoming a super chill birth control paradise
Oregon is poised to enact a measure allowing pharmacists to write and fill prescriptions for hormonal birth control, including the pill and the patch. The bill, which has been winding its way through the legislature since February but cleared its final House vote this week, isn’t quite the same as over-the-counter birth control—an issue that has become de rigueur in Congress—but it’s still a groundbreaking bit of policy.
California passed a similar measure last month, but it hasn’t been fully implemented. If Gov. Kate Brown signs HB 2879, which she’s expected to do, Oregon could be the first to put the law into practice. That would make the state something of a policy laboratory as the issue of expanding access to birth control gains support across political lines. (Even if some of that support looks more like political theater than an actual investment in reproductive health, but, you know, details.)
From the bill:
In accordance with rules adopted by the State Board of Pharmacy under ORS 689.205, a pharmacist may prescribe and dispense hormonal contraceptive patches and self-administered oral hormonal contraceptives to a person who is:
(a) At least 18 years of age, regardless of whether the person has evidence of a previous prescription from a primary care practitioner or women’s health care practitioner for a hormonal contraceptive patch or self-administered oral hormonal contraceptive; or
(b) Under 18 years of age, only if the person has evidence of a previous prescription from a primary care practitioner or women’s health care practitioner for a hormonal contraceptive patch or self-administered oral hormonal contraceptive.
The idea of letting pharmacists prescribe birth control was first introduced by Republican state Rep. Knute Buehler, who sounds super chill about the whole thing.