What if the Pill was over the counter?

While I hate the hassel of getting BC myself--I'm not convinced this is way to go--it's medication that can cause serious health complications in some women that needs to be monitored by a health care professional.

Actually I think having the pill over the counter is a great idea, but the problem would be that you would need to have access to a doctor if you had a complication or side effect. Also some people aren't that smart and don't read the directions.

The only problem I see with it is risk factors. For instance, I have a genetic clotting disorder that we found when I was getting screened for surgery. But to be honest, an exam for the pill wouldn't have caught that anyway so as long as you obey the instructions on the package I think it would be a fine idea!

I am not sure about the OTC BC, but it should be easier to get and I think that health insurance should not matter in this case. i had gone through many different types of BC before there was one that I could take. I know there are places like Planned Parent Hood and other local health departments that give out BC for a reduced price or even for free, and they have medical doctors that can discuss the right kind of BC for you, however these are far and few in between. Every city in every states needs to be more proactive in the women's side of BC not just the mens.

My 2 cents on the subject.

Almost every over-the-counter concoction the pharmas have come up with suggest we seek the advice of a doctor on its label. How many actually do and have been maimed or died from not following that advice, regardless of the reason, poor, no health insurance, no access, etc? People die every day of some of the most preventable situations. We need to reduce these stats exponentially. After all the regulation of the FDA and how many pharmaceuts they pull off market because the death numbers have reached 80K+ of heart attacks induced by drugs that passed the FDA muster tests to begin with? The truth is we are guinea pigs at large and en masse. But it is we who accept the risks too and so should shoulder responsibility and accountability in our acceptances and actions. I don't know what the exact balance is but there has to be a better way. We should be a better society by now in figuring out how to limit the issues of unwanted pregnancies across the board. Although I'm pro-choice, it should be when there are no other choices. That is where the problem lies. Eliminate it from the getgo. Abortion should not be a birth control issue. The other thing that can't be ignored or overlooked, is in the education of young girls that they can never accept a mindset to use their own bodies as weapons against boys either, as that happens more often than we women want to admit. (the "I want HIS baby" syndrome.)

This is the one thing I think our gov't's support of ALL it's people should be, is in giving FREE birth control pills, condoms and every other birth control device conceived of to both sexes and have them readily available on every street corner, not in just some sterile county or fed building in the heart of a city. Especially this new morning-after pill that supposedly lasts several days instead of 24 hours. We need something to stop unwanted pregnancies everywhere and every day. Free morning-after pills on every damn street corner in America! Instead of those fools standing on corners with grotesque full color pictures of aborted fetuses, they'd be better off by handing out BC pills and morning-after pills. But would they? I doubt it. No matter the solution, others want to control women's bodies and minds. We need to stop them and take control back of these issues, for both women and men.

As far as doctors, we need alot more of them and we need to figure out a way to "West Point" those who have the calling but not the money it takes and for their free education, they give back to society by working the free clinics to help those who need guidance and tracking on whether a pharma concoction will do more harm than good! There are smarter ways to quell our social ills that end up hurting us all. Especially all those unwanted children who grow up with no love in their lives so they turn their anger and hate on society in return.

We will never stop passion, sex or its drive but we can stop the repercussions of the too many mistakes made by both sexes. It needs to be a collective effort. Boys and men are not to blame solely here.

yep, that happens too Loretta. Especially in impoverished highrisk areas. We need to infiltrate those areas, break up the gang and prostitution rings that convince young girls (and boys) their bodies are to be used to make a fortune. It is oppression and slavery at its very worst and it happens across the board. And it happens because these are children growing up in dysfunctional families, either unwanted, unloved, or such utter hatefilled ignorance so that child grows up seeking out from any source, no matter how evil, to belong to something, or someone. They are the most vulnerable of our species.
I hate to see people reduced to rats but they are, and we have to castigate this at the headwaters where it all begins if we have any hope of turning rats back to functioning well-being humans. They deserve the best and so do we.

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I shouldn't need a doc's permission to take a pill. On the other I'm not comfortable giving OTC access to young girls and/or those who have had little to no education about them. Hormones are serious business and imbalances in them can cause adverse health effects.

These are not complicated conditions to identify;

I disagree with this statement. SOME conditions are harder to identify; especially when you are younger and are still trying to figure out what is going on with your body. And some bc can be very bad for women who are breastfeeding. People misuse/mis-take OTC drugs often, I'm not so sure adding hormones to that list is a great idea.

I will add that I don't think the primary reason for BC still requiring a scrip has anything to do with anti-feminism or oppressing women. I think it's a pretty clear case of follow-the-money. Big pharma and/or the Insurance companies have their hands all over this.

Makes perfect logial sense. When you join the military you're no longer an independent person with civil rights. IF it could only be that easy in civilian life. I'd vote to give golden parachute US treasury gold to the person or persons (corporate or otherwise) that invented a time-out pill for all boys and girls from the age of 10 to say, 23, maybe even up to 30. We require licenses for our dogs, shouldn't we be licensing people to find out if they're ready for children? Sometimes, freedom isn't really free, is it. It isn't really free when you're born to a crack-addicted mother, nor is it free to grow up in an orphanage with no loving parental support that instills balance, healthy mental growth and spiritual happiness.