D.C. councilmember David Catania introduced a bill Feb. 15, the Pharmacy Access Amendment Act, which would allow women, including women from Maryland, to receive birth control from D.C. pharmacists without a prescription from a doctor.
Catania, chairman of the council’s Committee on Health, proposed the bill so that women can obtain birth control without having to go to what can be costly and time-consuming doctor appointments.
“The bill would require doctors and pharmacists to work together to create a joint protocol that would allow certain women to get birth control in a safe and effective way,” said Jordan Hutchinson, director of the Committee on Health.
The act proposes that the Board of Pharmacy and Board of Medicine work together to create regulations that would allow pharmacists to distribute birth control.
“It’s not as simple as just getting rid of prescriptions,” Hutchinson said. “The two teams would work together to make sure there’s a program and training system that would make the most sense.”
The FDA currently requires a prescription for birth control and advises that its use be monitored by a doctor because the medication sometimes has dangerous and unpredictable side effects.
For junior Samantha, who asked that her name not be used, the Pharmacy Access Amendment Act would bring positive changes to the difficult process she must go through now in order to get birth control.
“If they changed the law, I wouldn’t get a prescription because it costs a lot of money to go in and have check-ups,” Samantha said. “Obviously some people can’t be on birth control because of health reasons, but I don’t think it should be as difficult to get birth control as it is now.”
Still, CHS parent and internist Julie Fox believes that birth control should remain a prescription drug as everybody reacts to birth control differently.
“They are medications that contain estrogen and cause problems including stroke and blood clots,” Fox said. “I make patients on birth control see me once or twice a year. If they smoke or have high blood pressure, I will discourage them from taking it.”
The bill does not set any age limits or guidelines to monitor women on birth control. According to Hutchinson, these decisions would be made by the Board of Pharmacy and the Board of Medicine.