A victory for women’s rights. The United States authorized this Thursday the free sale of a contraceptive pill. A first in the country, which hopes to facilitate its access by making it available without a prescription. The pill concerned, Opill, will be available in pharmacies, neighborhood shops and supermarkets as well as online on the Internet, announced the American Medicines Agency (FDA).
This decision must “reduce the barriers to access” to this method of contraception, by making it possible to obtain it “without having to first see a health professional”, wrote the FDA in a press release. Many countries already allow the over-the-counter sale of birth control pills. But this measure comes in a particular context in the United States, where the right to abortion is under renewed attack from conservatives and is now banned in several states.
A pill already authorized for many years
“If used as directed, daily oral contraception is safer and more effective in preventing unintended pregnancies than currently available over-the-counter contraceptive methods,” said Patrizia Cavazzoni, an FDA official. This pill, produced by the pharmaceutical company HRA Pharma recently acquired by Perrigo, had already been authorized in the United States by prescription for many years.