A bill that passed through the House of Delegates Health Committee on Tuesday, Feb. 5, would let adult women in West Virginia obtain birth control at pharmacies without first seeking a prescription during an appointment with a health care provider.
House Bill 2583, sponsored by Del. Jordan Hill, R-Nicholas and the vice-chair of the committee, would let West Virginia's state health officer issue a "standing order" for birth control, meaning she would effectively serve as the prescribing physician for birth control.
"This bill is really about expanding access to contraception and we wanted to do it in a way that made contraception more readily available," said Dr. Catherine Slemp, interim state health officer and commissioner of DHHR’s Bureau for Public Health, "and at the same time create safeguards and linkages back to primary care providers."
Del. Joe Ellington, R-Mercer and the chairman of the committee, said the bill would apply to the pill, patch or vaginal ring. He noted that pharmacists would not be required to dispense the contraceptives and that women would have to see a provider within a year.
As an obstetrician-gynecologist, Ellington said he frequently gets calls for a new prescription on Friday evenings.
Slemp noted that when contraception is more readily available, unplanned pregnancies decline. She also noted that transportation, childcare and time can be hindrances to scheduling appointments.
Last year, Christina Mullins, then- director of the Office of Maternal, Child and Family Health at DHHR, reported nearly half of pregnancies in West Virginia are unintended.
The women would need to fill out an assessment to determine any risks of prescribing her contraceptives. Ellington noted that some women with blood clotting disorders would be ineligible.
The pharmacist would have to instruct the woman on the proper use of the contraceptive, counsel the woman on potential side effects and ways to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections, and provide written information on the importance of visiting a health care provider in person and the effectiveness of the contraceptive, according to the bill.
The standing order would not apply to abortion-inducing drugs.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommended that birth control be available over the counter in 2012, noting that approximately 50 percent of all pregnancies were unplanned. ACOG notes that women with unintended pregnancy are "more likely to smoke or drink alcohol during pregnancy, have depression, experience domestic violence, and are less likely to obtain prenatal care or breastfeed."
The ACOG also noted that short interpregnancy intervals (the time between delivering one child and conceiving the next) "have been associated with adverse neonatal outcomes, including low birth weight and prematurity, which increase the chances of children’s health and developmental problems."
