MassLive | Pharmacists may be able to prescribe hormonal birth control if this Mass. bill passes

By Juliet Schulman-Hall
Story Originally Appeared in Masslive

A year out from the U.S. Supreme Court overturn of Roe v. Wade, Massachusetts politicians are working on increasing access to reproductive care in the state, introducing legislation that would allow pharmacists to prescribe hormonal birth control.

“People kept saying, well, we don’t have to worry about abortion, it’s settled law, Roe v. Wade stands, and they were wrong. So people should not feel comfortable with the fact that the right to contraception will remain legal,” said state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, who sponsored the legislation with state Rep. Christine Barber.

Sabadosa referenced a concurring opinion by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the case that overturned Roe v. Wade, which suggested that contraception should be reconsidered.

According to a 2016 study published in the Journal of Women’s Health, one-third of adult U.S. women who have ever tried to obtain prescription contraception reported access barriers.

Rebecca Hart Holder, president of Reproductive Equity Now, said women often face unnecessary clinical visits or examination requirements which prevents individuals from being able to get birth control, especially with a healthcare system which is backed up due to staffing shortages or from the aftermath of the pandemic.

“The fact that you can’t get a visit with your clinician should not be a barrier to getting birth control,” Hart Holder said.

If passed, Massachusetts would be the 27th state to pass the act, according to Sabadosa.

The bill, also known as Bill H.2133, was passed in the Senate budget mid-May and supported to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Massachusetts has already passed a couple of pieces of legislation related to contraception access, including the Protecting Access to Confidential Health Care (PATCH) Act, which allows patients to request a summary of a payment form for their health insurance sent directly to them instead of the policyholder, and the Advancing Contraceptive Coverage and Economic Security in our State (ACCESS) Act, which provides eligible individuals to be prescribed one year’s supply of prescription birth control at no cost and emergency contraception at no cost.

At the federal level, however, the likelihood of a federal law passing in Congress guaranteeing access to birth control remains grim, according to Sabadosa.

U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey, D-Mass, and U.S. Representative Kathy Manning, D-N.C., reintroduced the “Right to Contraception Act,” also known as H.R.8373, which would allow all Americans the legal right to access any FDA-approved birth control, however, it was blocked on the Senate floor for the second time on Wednesday.

Only 33 U.S. Senators — all Democrats — and 127 members in the House backed the act, well short of what it needed for passage.

“Birth control gives people the ability to make deeply intimate decisions about when and whether to become a parent. It allows them to control their reproductive destiny and it allows them to decide when and how to start a family,” said Hart Holder.

As of June 1, 2023, the Guttmacher Institute found that nine states have emergency contraception restrictions.

Read more: Roe v. Wade ruling: Same-sex marriage and contraception should be reconsidered, suggests Justice Clarence Thomas

The Right to Contraception Act was initially passed in the House in 2022 with bipartisan support by a vote of 228-195.

“Congress has an obligation to fulfill its duty to protect the rights of Americans – from marriage equality to civil rights and worker safety,” said Sen. Markey. “Yet, today, when I asked Republicans for the second time to stand up for the right to contraception – a policy that a vast majority of Americans support – they said no. Each and every Republican who refused to protect the right to contraception told Americans loud and clear that they’re willing to risk the health of millions of Americans for politics.”

Markey said he will be continuing to fight to pass the Right to Contraception Act.