Happy Valentine’s Day, students. As of Feb. 1st, 2022, women in North Carolina no longer need a prescription from their doctors to purchase birth control. Plan B and other emergency contraceptives have been available over the counter, though no daily birth control pills or patches have been. This has been an option available in several other states, but it won’t be available at all pharmacies yet. That being said, it’s amazing progress for North Carolina for a variety of reasons.
North Carolina has an unplanned pregnancy rate of 44 percent, and this new legislation can help to reduce that rate by providing a safer method of contraception for people who are at risk of pregnancy, or who have had issues finding reliable contraceptives that work for them. Finding the time to go to a doctor and then having that doctor decide if you get birth control or not was very time consuming and wildly inconvenient, making fewer people want to take it. You would need to take time out of work or school in order to go, and sometimes appointments could take several weeks. On top of that, the doctor is often the one deciding which one would work best, as opposed to the patient deciding for themself. With this new bill being passed, anyone who needs birth control can get it efficiently and mostly discreetly, without needing to take so much time out of their schedule for it. Since the method is much easier and more attainable, it gives new opportunities for people who might have more strict parents who won’t let them get it prescribed, and for those who might not identify as a woman, but who would still need the contraceptive.
There really aren’t any obvious downsides to this bill. Not only is it better for the people already taking birth control, it has the possibility to lower rates of abortion due to being a safe and easily attainable form of contraception. It could also drastically decrease rates of teenage pregnancy as well. And the bill passed wasn’t only for birth control and contraceptives- it also allows pharmacists to freely dispense HIV prevention medication, which can help to prevent more cases of the deadliest STI we’ve ever experienced.
The only downside is that, like most medication, the pills can cost a pretty penny, though that’s no surprise to anyone. The pills are said to cost around $50. The price does range depending on the person and their insurance plan and provider, which means that if you have pretty good insurance, you could get it for free. While this is great for people who have good insurance, it might discourage people who don’t from taking the medication, regardless of need.
All in all, while some might be unhappy about the bill being passed, it’s definitely a net positive and it’s a giant step forward for North Carolina and a big help to those in need of birth control.