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Should Birth Control Pills be available over the counter?

Should Birth Control Pills be available over the counter?


  • Total voters
    39
Doctors don't do all that lab work and medical history stuff before prescribing the pill.

Yes they do if they don't know the patient. Btw, most BC pills increase blood pressure, not a good thing for those patients with already elevated blood pressure. And that's just one of the many contraindications.
 
Because I had to go to a gyno once a year since I was about 19 until I went off the pill a few years after I was married so we could start producing little Borrachos. It was a quick hello, how are you feeling, okay do you want me to call it into Walgreens or CVS? And that was it.

That gyno was your regular doctor, in other words they knew you and your medical history, right?
 


Without question they should.


Why was he calling for condoms from a public computer lab?

Simple enough question.

Making Birth Control available to women over the counter would even the playing field (we don't make men get a prescription and a prostrate exam to get condoms), and lower the costs of birth control. It's been that shifting to OTC BC would result in a 20–36% decrease in the number of women using no method or a method less effective than the pill, and a 7–25% decrease in the number of unintended pregnancies, something you'd think all sides can agree on.

And, generally, it seems most do. Only 26% of Americans oppose allowing Birth Control Pills to be sold over the counter, and 70% support it. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists support it.


However, it became a bit of an issue a while back when Sen Mark Udall was running the worlds-most-shark-jumping-war-on-women campaign against Senator Gardner, who has now introduced legislation calling for making OTC BC a legal reality.


So, where sits DP?

Sure, why not? I just want to see the world burn...
 
Simple enough question.

Making Birth Control available to women over the counter would even the playing field (we don't make men get a prescription and a prostrate exam to get condoms), and lower the costs of birth control. It's been that shifting to OTC BC would result in a 20–36% decrease in the number of women using no method or a method less effective than the pill, and a 7–25% decrease in the number of unintended pregnancies, something you'd think all sides can agree on.

And, generally, it seems most do. Only 26% of Americans oppose allowing Birth Control Pills to be sold over the counter, and 70% support it. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists support it.


However, it became a bit of an issue a while back when Sen Mark Udall was running the worlds-most-shark-jumping-war-on-women campaign against Senator Gardner, who has now introduced legislation calling for making OTC BC a legal reality.


So, where sits DP?

Well off the top of my head i say yes BUT that is simply based off the service they provide . . . .

WHat I think is actually right is they should be sold how ever they are classified as long as that classification is medicine based and not peoples subjective morals.

A Lot of drugs are over or under the counter based on strength, side effects, risks/dangers / classification. There are many types of "the pill" and I certainly do not know what they all are but the ones that fall with in classifications like cold medicines, aspirin etc etc then the answer is CLEARLY yes.

If it meets the classification of an OTC then it should be, plain and simple

if it doesnt then protocols should be followed to do so IF those protocols exists, if those protocols dont or cant be met or its MEDIALLY unsafe then it shouldnt.

If The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists support it id say theres solid grounds it should be . . but again no matter the decision id like it based on the medical community and science not subjective feelings/morals

EDIT . . .after reading some post . . yes COST would be a factor also . . .

does the cost actually stop more people from getting it than not or does it become cheaper and can versions still be cover under healthcare . . . if this is not a huge hurdle then im still on board if its based off of medicine
 
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Hell yes. Heck, it might even make those opposed to health insurance covering the pill happy because as far as I know over the counters aren't covered by prescription plans.

Under the law they would still be covered, they would just cost less.

Summerwind said:
No, for two reasons, first there are medical implications to taking the pill not associated with condom use, so it needs to remain a medical issue

:raises eyebrows: this is the theory that, for some reason or another, women are not smart enough to read warning labels on birth control pills? Lots of OTC drugs have potential side effects.

Secondly, by making it available over the counter, it demands that it be paid for independent of insurance which would make it financially out of reach for many women

According to the law, it would still be covered, it would just be cheaper. That's why, when you actually run the numbers, you find that this move would dramatically increase the number of low-income women on the pill.
 
It looks like mostly men have voted but is there some medical reason that they should not be available over the counter?
 
if birth control pills were used exclusively to prevent pregancy, I would say yes. However, they are used to treat woman's various hormone issues. i voted No.

Why does that matter?
 
Doctors don't do all that lab work and medical history stuff before prescribing the pill.

:shrug:

...in 2010, the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology found that 29 percent of doctors always required a pelvic exam before penning a prescription, while an additional 45 percent of them “usually” did so...
 
It looks like mostly men have voted but is there some medical reason that they should not be available over the counter?

So far I've seen A) Cost (which would both be reduced and still be covered under the ACA) and B) side effects (which all drugs have).
 
So far I've seen A) Cost (which would both be reduced and still be covered under the ACA) and B) side effects (which all drugs have).

I guess I would say that they should but that women should go to a doctor now and then to make sure they are not going to have a bad side effect like Scrab said she gets...
 
Because women would not seek a doctor who would prescribe the correct one and dosage.

So you think that women will be irresponsible and that you need to be responsible for their own good?
 
So you think that women will be irresponsible and that you need to be responsible for their own good?

It's interesting to see them say that women need to have others steer their decisions involving their uterus'.
 
So you think that women will be irresponsible and that you need to be responsible for their own good?

It's just llke any other prescribed medicine. You need a doctor to prescribe the correct medicine and dosage. The doctor would also know the patient's health and give any warnings that need to be.
 
It's just llke any other prescribed medicine. You need a doctor to prescribe the correct medicine and dosage. The doctor would also know the patient's health and give any warnings that need to be.

But there are side effects to all medicines and many are over the counter...
 
It looks like mostly men have voted but is there some medical reason that they should not be available over the counter?

You're talking about hormones here, and there are many available pills and dosages--what's right for one woman may not be for another, and this needs to be determined for each individual woman by a healthcare professional.
 
Well, seeing as how I believe even all recreational drugs should be legal I wouldn't be very consistent if I said you should have to get permission from a doctor to obtain prescription meds. So I think all drugs should be available without a prescription FOR ADULTS.
 
Simple enough question.

Making Birth Control available to women over the counter would even the playing field (we don't make men get a prescription and a prostrate exam to get condoms), and lower the costs of birth control. It's been that shifting to OTC BC would result in a 20–36% decrease in the number of women using no method or a method less effective than the pill, and a 7–25% decrease in the number of unintended pregnancies, something you'd think all sides can agree on.

And, generally, it seems most do. Only 26% of Americans oppose allowing Birth Control Pills to be sold over the counter, and 70% support it. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists support it.


However, it became a bit of an issue a while back when Sen Mark Udall was running the worlds-most-shark-jumping-war-on-women campaign against Senator Gardner, who has now introduced legislation calling for making OTC BC a legal reality.


So, where sits DP?

I don't see any particular reason why not, all things being equal.

We already sell condoms and Plan B over the counter. :shrug:
 
Depends on side effects, health issues etc. If they are acceptable, then see little reason birth control shouldn't be OTC. If not, then they shouldn't. Though, unless there is a good medical reason, continual visits just to get more seems a waste of time for patient and doctor.
 
Simple enough question.

Making Birth Control available to women over the counter would even the playing field (we don't make men get a prescription and a prostrate exam to get condoms), and lower the costs of birth control. It's been that shifting to OTC BC would result in a 20–36% decrease in the number of women using no method or a method less effective than the pill, and a 7–25% decrease in the number of unintended pregnancies, something you'd think all sides can agree on.

And, generally, it seems most do. Only 26% of Americans oppose allowing Birth Control Pills to be sold over the counter, and 70% support it. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists support it.


However, it became a bit of an issue a while back when Sen Mark Udall was running the worlds-most-shark-jumping-war-on-women campaign against Senator Gardner, who has now introduced legislation calling for making OTC BC a legal reality.


So, where sits DP?

I don't think this is something the State has a compelling interest in. It should be left to individual choice and market selection.
 
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