Birth control pills may soon be sold without a prescription.
Peter Dazeley/Getty Images
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Peter Dazeley/Getty Images
Birth control pills may soon be sold without a prescription.
Peter Dazeley/Getty Images
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recently recommended that birth control pills be sold without a prescription.
While more than 100 countries currently allow access to birth control pills over the counter, the United States is not one of them.
Washington Senator Patty Murray says it’s important to make the pill readily available – but also affordable.
When – and if – that day comes and the pill is available over the counter, Murray wants to ask insurance companies to cover the cost, free of charge.
NPR’s Sara McCammon talks with Senator Murray about the proposed legislation.
And we hear the latest about the legal challenge to the abortion medication mifepristone, as lawyers gather in New Orleans at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to argue whether it should be taken off the market.
NPR’s Becky Sullivan and Selena Simmons-Duffin contributed reporting on the real-life experiences of individuals taking mifepristone.
In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s happening in your community.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Brianna Scott with engineering by Stacey Abbott. It was edited by Jeanette Woods. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
