RALEIGH, N.C. — Beginning Tuesday, North Carolina women will be able to get hormonal birth control without a doctor’s prescription — a change that will give millions of women easier access to some of the most common contraceptives that prevent pregnancy.
Under a new law, passed by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, North Carolina will join more than a dozen other states in allowing pharmacists to dispense birth control pills and patches without the signature of a patient’s physician.
Effective Feb. 1, the new law could help shrink North Carolina’s 44% unplanned pregnancy rate and eliminate some of the barriers — like the cost and time of going to the doctor — that prevent women from seeking health care.
“If somebody decides that they need contraception today, spur of the moment, then they can access that and then that gives them time to explore other care options that may be available to them if they’re looking for another type of contraception,” said Velma Taormina, a physician and president of the North Carolina Obstetrical and Gynecological Society. “It’s just part of making sure that we have increased access all along the spectrum.”
The change — a victory for reproductive rights advocates seeking to leave it up to women to decide if and when they want children — comes as the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear a challenge to the landmark abortion rights case, Roe v. Wade.
Sen. Jim Burgin, a Republican from Harnett County who championed the legislation, said until that case is decided, the new law could prevent abortions in North Carolina.
“Can we just all agree that an abortion is a bad outcome for everybody?” Burgin said. “What can we do to prevent people from ever having to make that decision? And so the best way to do that is to prevent an unplanned pregnancy.”
The measure is one of a slate of bills targeting women’s health that the legislature passed last year. Republicans also championed legislation prohibiting shackling of pregnant inmates and expanding Medicaid coverage to parents who temporarily lose custody of their children, both of which were signed into law.
The legislation expanding birth control access explicitly prohibits pharmacists from distributing emergency contraceptives, like the morning-after pill, but that medication is already available over the counter and without a prescription, so access appears to be unchanged.
The bill also further expands pharmacists’ scope of practice by allowing them to dispense HIV prevention medication, prenatal vitamins, glucagon to treat hypoglycemia and nicotine replacement therapy.
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