The following was written by SFL Campus Coordinator Nikki Burgess. 

In light of the recent discussion about birth control spurred by the controversial Burwell v. Hobby Lobby ruling, I want to shed light on a solution both sides of the heated back-and-forth dialogue have largely overlooked. Instead of talking past one another on the subject of government mandates, proponents of female empowerment and corporate autonomy alike should focus on a remedy that would increase women’s access to cheaper contraception while protecting the rights of businesses: making contraception available over-the-counter.

Currently, women must spend valuable time and money visiting a doctor to receive a prescription and if they are unsatisfied with the side effects, they must shell out money for further medical bills to get a different prescription. These unnecessary costs to women are substantiated by a plethora of studies demonstrating that both consumers and insurance providers would save money if the pill were to become OTC. The studies consider avoided medical costs related to unwanted pregnancies, forgone laboratory tests, and unneeded physician visits. In fact, the American College of Clinical Pharmacy determined that OTC birth control would save $4 on every $1 spent. That’s the kind of efficiency only a free market could generate.

We should look to the success of the 2013 policy change when the Food and Drug Administration approved emergency contraceptives for over-the-counter sale. As a result of this measure, the number of pharmacies able to dispense emergency contraceptives increased by nearly fifteen percent. In a time-sensitive situation, the importance of increased access cannot be overstated. 

As it currently stands, the pharmaceutical market is highly protected. Brand name birth control generally requires the same copay as the generic kind, so women have no incentive to choose what would be the cheaper option. Although the FDA has welcomed drug makers to contest the pill’s prescription-only status, it is not surprising that none have, given that they unfairly profit from the status quo. Making the pill available OTC would force contraceptive manufacturers to compete on cost, thus bringing down prices overall. Unlike contraceptive mandates from the government, this solution would take into consideration the many unemployed women who are currently barred from purchasing birth control due to price.

Furthermore, this is a solution that the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has already recommended as safe. While use of the pill does carry some risk for blood clots, there already exist OTC medications with even more serious side effects. More importantly, women are capable of self-screening for potential risk factors and making informed decisions about what to put in their bodies. Emergency contraceptives have been approved for OTC sale and they are merely a higher dosage of the same active ingredients found in birth control. Likely for these reasons, birth control is legally available without a prescription in nearly 100 other countries across the world.

By increasing access to contraception across the board, making birth control available OTC would render contraception mandates from the government completely unnecessary, thus protecting the rights of businesses to determine their own terms of service. In the relationship between employers and employees, it is the responsibility of the employee who has voluntarily entered into a contract to ensure that their needs are being met, not the employer’s. Interfering with the decision-making processes of businesses with burdensome regulation not only stifles innovation, but also undermines the natural competition via exit in the marketplace from rooting out companies that would perform poorly absent government involvement.

To achieve the end of meeting women’s health needs, we do not need a law requiring our employers to pay for birth control; we need only the motivation to demand that its market be freed. Changing oral contraceptives to OTC status will afford us all the benefits free market have to offer, including greater access, fewer regulations, and—above all—freedom of personal choice when deciding whether or not to spend money on a product.