Do You Support Over-the-Counter Birth Control?

What’s the story?

• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are in agreement again, this time over the idea that birth control should be available over the counter.
• AOC tweeted: “Psst! Birth control should be over-the-counter, pass it on.”
• Cruz responded: “I agree. Perhaps, in addition to the legislation we are already working on together to ban Members of Congress from becoming lobbyists, we can team up here as well. A simple, clean bill making birth control available over the counter. Interested?”

• AOC also called for birth control to be free, something Cruz likely won’t agree to, given his opposition to the Affordable Care Act and single-payer healthcare.

What are people saying?

• The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has stated that over-the-counter access to birth control pills “will help more women get the contraceptives they need, which have long been proven safe enough to use without a prescription — especially emergency contraception.”
• Julie Rovner, of Kaiser Health News, noted that Cruz is not the first conservative to push the idea of OTC birth control, tweeting that Republicans have "been pushing this for several years to escape from the political problems of who should pay for birth control and its conflation with abortion debate."

“Hitch- it might end up costing women more because most insurers don't cover OTC drugs.”

What do you think?

Do you support OTC birth control? Take action and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: iStock / hidesy)