The coming of new laws will allow pharmacists in California and Oregon to prescribe birth control pills over the pharmacy.

While some healthcare experts prefer for birth control pills to be over the counter (OTC) medications, or those that won't need prescriptions to be bought, lawmakers are taking steps to that direction by making it so that pharmacists will be able to prescribe and sell the pills and other forms of contraceptives to consumers directly from the drug store.

Women will be able to get their prescription after answering a medical history and screening questionnaire from which the pharmacist will base prescribing information from. The contraceptives prescribed by pharmacists will also be covered by health insurance policies.

While other states also practice allowing pharmacists to prescribe certain drugs directly to consumers, California and Oregon will be the first to do so regarding contraceptives.

"I feel strongly that this is what's best for women's health in the 21st century...because one of the key things for women in poverty is unintended pregnancy," said State Representative Knute Buehler of Oregon, who was the one who sponsored the bill.

While the laws regarding both states are, in essence, rather similar, there are still differences in terms of what can be prescribed and who exactly can do so. Oregon-based pharmacists will require additional training before they can prescribe contraceptives to women 18 years old and above. Those below 18 years old will need prescriptions from their doctors.

In California, for example, pharmacists will be required to undergo further extensive training before they can be prescribers, but will be able to give a wider range of services to consumers such as ordering laboratory examinations. California law also requires pharmacists to take women's blood pressure if the contraceptive involved is estrogen.

The law in California will come into effect in a yet to be disclosed date next year. The Oregon law on the other hand will take effect this coming Jan. 1, 2016. Another law for Oregon, which will require insurers to cover an annual supply of prescribed birth control in addition to the 30 and 60 days' worth of batches, is currently underway.

Advocates of the new laws are hoping to make this a practice in other states as well.

"We are actively going to come up with a statute to spread to other states, and I think it can spread pretty quickly," said Buehler, who is also an orthopedist.

Photo: Mark Hillary | Flickr