It would seem like Oregon has been the first state to show its open mindedness with the start of the new Year, as a number of progressive laws have gone into effect starting January 1st. One of the most important of them would be that birth control can be prescribed by pharmacists in Oregon.
- Birth control pills can be issued by pharmacists with the help of a single questionnaire
- All pharmacists in the state will require training in order to be allowed to issue the pills
- Women under the age of 18 can be turned away, depending on the questionnaire’s results
- Religious reasons can still be an acceptable reason to be refused birth control
- Doctors strongly advise that women still go in for regular check-ups
In a move that strongly impressed those that promote women’s rights, the state of Oregon made birth control pills accessible through a pharmacist directly, along with a number of other pretty progressive laws.
All pharmacists that wish to be able to prescribe birth control tablets will have to take a training class on how to do it first.
The pharmacists will employ a number of questionnaires, aimed at discerning if the woman is ready to receive the tablets, as well as what particular make of pills would be most appropriate.
Women over 18 will receive the birth control pills they need as soon as the pharmacists are done with the filled questionnaire, however women under 18 will have to fill in an additional one, so that the pharmacists can assess their level of readiness for receiving the pills.
Religious reasons would prevent some pharmacists from prescribing the birth control tablets, but they will have to refer the turned away customer to a different pharmacist.
The bad news is that concerns are rising regarding a very likely drop in regular OB-GYN checkups, which could potentially lead to a drastic increase in easily preventable cancers.
For example, cervical cancer is very easy to detect and treat, especially with regular checkups, but if the frequency of doctor visits decreases due to the new legislation, a large number of cases are apt to go undetected.
Overall, the move is decisively beneficial, but a certain measure of care and caution will have to be maintained in order for things not to go wrong quickly. Responsibility will be attributed to both pharmacists and customers if something goes awry.
Oregon passed a large number of progressive laws this January, somewhere around 300, and the birth control has only a small part to play in the matter.
Other laws referred to paid sick leaves, automated registration for voter, and even the change of “wife and husband” in marriage documents to “spouses in legal marriage”.
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Eagle Skywatcher says
This type of law is not progressive. It degrades the value of medicine. Prescription of contraceptives can be safely done through a series of questionnaires? Evaluating the type of contraceptives to be given and the checking of BP, history of clotting etc are lost. It would surely be alot simpler to prescribe through soda machines. Press a button and choose your own contraceptives but MOST important of all, put your money into the machine.
Independent1776 says
Said this three years ago…. the Government will make birth control pills OTC because “they say” it will increase access… but the real reason is money. Insurance companies (& Medicaid) wont have to pay for an OTC medication…. and the total cost will fall on to the woman…
And they say that the Republicans “have a war on women”…. ha.