• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Should Birth Control Pills be available over the counter?

Should Birth Control Pills be available over the counter?


  • Total voters
    39

cpwill

DP Veteran
Joined
Dec 20, 2009
Messages
75,493
Reaction score
39,818
Location
USofA
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Conservative
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?
 
Yes they should, it is a benefit to everyone.
 
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.
 
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?
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. 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, most of whom are those not financially viable as mothers either. So..... NO not a good idea at all.
 
Yes, it is something most Americans can agree on and those things are rare.

I might add though since we are not replacing ourselves and we seem to be stalled with immigration reform more pregnancies might....
 
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. 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, most of whom are those not financially viable as mothers either. So..... NO not a good idea at all.

As for the insurance thing, my insurance pays for over the counter allergy medicine for my wife as long as a doctor writes her a prescription.

But I agree on the medical implications. My wife has has issues with various forms of birth control and I think it would be smart to talk with a doctor before and during its use.
 


Without question they should.
 
The cost without insurance is about $50/month. Manufacturers have long since recovered their initial research and marketing cost. Much of the cost today is in deliver and the hurdles that must be cleared for any prescription med. It's beyond my knowledge but I can hazard a guess that OTC cost would be way less. Additionally, Planned Parenthood will provide DC is many forms including the pill to those who can not afford it. I'd like some assurances that making them available OTC would indeed lower cost to the consumer.
 
Yes and it's absolutely bat**** crazy the absolute insane red tape a girl has to go through to get the pill. It's an absolute illogical catastrophe.


Honestly the govt. should mail every girl by a certain age birth control pills 100% Free and this should be a Federally mandated program. The amount of problems this would fix are literally unfathomable. We're talking hundreds of billions in savings to society. Maybe even trillions.
 
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. 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, most of whom are those not financially viable as mothers either. So..... NO not a good idea at all.

There are many over the counter medications that carry side effects.
 
There are many over the counter medications that carry side effects.

Where it comes to side effects upon the [individual's] reproductive system? No.

My answer to the OP question is no. Just as antibiotics should continue to be prescription only.
 
Last edited:
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 am not an expert on this, but from what I can see, the primary argument against making them OTC is that it would remove the screening before getting on the meds. That screening is fairly important, though whether it is important enough to stop a push to move them from prescription only to OTC, I am not sure.

Also, and I point this out because I know you are capable of doing better, it is a good idea when making polls(as opposed to fishing for the response you want), to actually include something of a balanced view. It took me under a minute to find the reasons people oppose making them OTC, and those concerns are genuine, if not necessarily persuasive to all.
 
Where it comes to side effects upon the [individual's] reproductive system? No.

My answer to the OP question is no. Just as antibiotics should continue to be prescription only.

There are no significant side effects to one's reproductive system from the use of birth control pills. Antibiotics are whole different class of drug which IMO are already over prescribed.
 
There are no significant side effects to one's reproductive system from the use of birth control pills. Antibiotics are whole different class of drug which IMO are already over prescribed.

That's just not true. There can be, depending upon the individual, increased risk of clotting, increased risks of certain cancers, and a few other really bad things. The bolded part explains precisely why they should not be sold over the counter. The likelihood of deadly side effects vary by individual.

Also, all birth control pills are not the same. Depends upon what type of pill you're prescribed and what concentration of estrogen or progestin it contains.
 
Last edited:
Looks like I'm the only one who voted in the poll. That would be my "Yes" vote you see.
 
That's just not true. There can be, depending upon the individual, increased risk of clotting, increased risks of certain cancers, and a few other really bad things. The bolded part explains precisely why they should not be sold over the counter. The likelihood of deadly side effects vary by individual.

Then we better get rid of tylenol as an over the counter drug. One can be informed of the risks by reading the warning label just as effectively as having the doctor read them to you. If something is not right, then go see a doctor.
 
Looks like I'm the only one who voted in the poll. That would be my "Yes" vote you see.

Please enlighten us uniformed males as to why going to the doctor to get a prescription is not really necessary.
 
Then we better get rid of tylenol as an over the counter drug. One can be informed of the risks by reading the warning label just as effectively as having the doctor read them to you. If something is not right, then go see a doctor.

Except no, they can't. Unless they have their lab results and medical history AND the knowledge to interpret them. Again, there can be some pretty deadly side effects with certain formulations of "the pill" for certain individuals. Something you're not going to know until you see the doctor.

And again, birth control pills are not all the same. Depends upon what type of pill you're prescribed and what concentration of estrogen or progestin it contains.
 
Except no, they can't. Unless they have their lab results and medical history AND the knowledge to interpret them. Again, there can be some pretty deadly side effects with certain formulations of "the pill" for certain individuals. Something you're not going to know until you see the doctor.

And again, birth control pills are not all the same. Depends upon what type of pill you're prescribed and what concentration of estrogen or progestin it contains.

Doctors don't do all that lab work and medical history stuff before prescribing the pill.
 
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.
 
Please enlighten us uniformed males as to why going to the doctor to get a prescription is not really necessary.

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.
 
I think they should come in yummy flavors like apple, pineapple and charcoal (really burnt toast).
 
Aren't there potential complications from the hormonal changes? Not specifically to the reproductive system, but for blood pressure, too? My only reticence about this is the potential for someone who would have serious reactions to skip a preliminary assessment and be harmed by those side effects, though there is likely little reason to require subsequent examinations. If that can be accounted for or aren't significantly more dangerous than the side effects from other over the counter drugs, then there's absolutely no reason to object to this. Unless there is a serious health risk, birth control should be made as easy to obtain as humanly possible.
 
Aren't there potential complications from the hormonal changes? Not specifically to the reproductive system, but for blood pressure, too?

Yes, and blood pressure is why I cannot use it. Many years ago, I went to my doctor to ask for the BC Pill. She took my blood pressure and it was high, it had never been high prior to that. Over the next couple months, it continued to be high, so she put me on meds and refused to give me the pill. A few years later, I pushed and pushed to get on it so she sent me to a gynecologist for his opinion. He put me on it and a month later, at a regular blood pressure check at my GP's, it was sky high. I had to quit taking the pill. Had it been OTC, I would not have known I had hypertension and would have taken the pill and possibly had a stroke.

Incidentally, my (adopted) dad was convinced my (adopted) mom died from taking the pill. She had multiple risk factors which were not known at the time but are well known now (over 35, overweight and a smoker). Had he told me this a decade before he did, I probably would not have pushed to get on it.
 
Back
Top Bottom