So last week, U.S. Senators Kelly Ayotte (R. NH) and Cory "Personhood" Gardner (R. CO) introduced a new over the counter birth control bill:
http://blogs.denverpost.com/...
Gardner is sponsoring the Allowing Greater Access to Safe and Effective Contraception Act with Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. Their bill also would repeal the Affordable Care Act’s restriction on the use of health, medical and flexible savings accounts to purchase over-the-counter drugs without a prescription.
“It’s time to allow women the ability to make their own decisions about safe, effective, and long-established methods of contraception,” Gardner said, in a news release.
“Most other drugs with such a long history of safe and routine use are available for purchase over the counter, and contraception should join them. Making this medication available over the counter would increase access in rural and underserved areas, save consumers money by increasing competition and availability, and save women time by increasing the ease of getting the safe contraception they need.” - The Denver Post, 5/21/15
Well that sounds nice except here's the thing:
http://www.bustle.com/...
“This bill is a sham and an insult to women,” Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards said in a statement sent to Bustle. “It would give women fewer birth control options and force women to pay twice for their birth control.”
Following the passage of the Affordable Care Act and its accompanying HHS mandate, Republicans have been touting OTC birth control as a better, more efficient, and cheaper option for American women than having birth control covered by their health insurers. In fact, OTC birth control was a common talking point among Republican candidates in the 2014 midterm elections.
In a statement released last week on his official website, Gardner, the Republican senator from Colorado, further framed OTC birth control as a way for women to take full control of their reproductive choices when discussing his latest bill, the Allowing Greater Access to Safe and Effective Contraception Act:
It’s time to allow women the ability to make their own decisions about safe, effective, and long-established methods of contraception. Making this medication available over the counter would increase access in rural and under-served areas, save consumers money by increasing competition and availability, and save women time by increasing the ease of getting the safe contraception they need.
Yet many doctors and reproductive health advocates are wary of the Republican Party’s new plan, particularly because it’s often introduced in tandem with a repeal of the ACA and its HHS mandate — and an end to no-copay contraception. Even without a repeal of the ACA, reproductive health advocates say the bill erase insurance-coverage of birth control, because the health care act only covers birth control medication that requires a prescription. A push for “routine-use” contraception sold over-the-counter would mean women would have to pay for the medication entirely out of pocket.
So, there’s the catch — buy your birth control pill as easily as you can buy your Claritin, yet expect to shell out some bucks. Without insurance-covered contraception, a woman could end up paying $600 out of pocket for birth control each year, according to research from Planned Parenthood. - Bustle, 5/25/15
Planned Parenthood isn't the only one calling out Ayotte and Gardner's B.S.:
http://nhdp.org/...
Today, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) joined the growing chorus of doctors and women’s health advocates opposing Kelly Ayotte’s sham birth control bill.
Salon called the bill “a giant fraud.” Adding, Ayotte “wants to sell women a bill of goods. They’re not buying, and neither are doctors.”
The Huffington Post reported that ACOG President Mark S. DeFrancesco, M.D., issued the following statement on behalf of the non-profit organization of women’s health doctors:
“The Affordable Care Act removed many barriers to preventive care that keeps women healthy. By making contraceptives available to women without a co-pay, it has truly increased access to contraception, thereby decreasing unintended pregnancies, and allowing women to better plan their futures. Unfortunately, instead of improving access, this bill would actually make more women have to pay for their birth control, and for some women, the cost would be prohibitive.”
“As women’s health care providers, we welcome robust and productive dialogue about the indisputable role that contraceptives play in the health, well-being, and productivity of American women. We would welcome any legislation that would do what this proposal purports to do – help women. As it stands, however, we cannot support a plan that creates one route to access at the expense of another, more helpful route.” - New Hampshire Democratic Party, 5/22/15
Nice try GOP. Luckily, Ayotte will be a top target next year and hopefully Governor Maggie Hassan (D. NH) will jump in to take her out. I also recently visited Colorado for my first time. Spent time in both Denver and Boulder and I loved it. Colorado voters, you'll have your chance to rectify your mistake from 2014 when Gardner faces the voters in 2020, another Presidential year with President Clinton or Sanders or O'Malley on the top of the ticket running for re-election. Stay tuned.