Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez And Ayanna Pressley Want Birth Control To Be Over-The-Counter
Democratic Rep. wants Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) wants people to have easy and affordable access to birth control ― and is pushing for new legislation to do so.
Pressley introduced the “Affordability is Access” act ― co-sponsored by other Democratic women lawmakers including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) ― which would require insurance companies to cover oral contraception, like daily birth control pills, and dispense it over the counter without a doctor’s prescription. prescription.
Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance plans are required to cover any contraception approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The new law would ensure that the FDA approves “without delay” birth control pills sold over the counter, and requires that such pills be covered by insurance without cost sharing, such as deductibles or copays, that making it free to the insured.
“Reproductive justice is not just a health care issue, it’s also an economic issue and a civil rights issue,” Pressley said. “At a time when reproductive rights are under attack, it is more critical than ever that we take bold steps to reaffirm reproductive rights for all Americans.”
“It’s a brutal form of oppression to take control of the one precious thing a person should command: their own body,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a release. “Women should have the right to own and control their own bodies.”
Several 2020 Democratic presidential candidates are also co-sponsored a fee included from Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in the Senate Thursday ― along with Cory Booker (DN.J.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt. .) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
The law comes as several states have moved to severely restrict abortion rights ― including Georgia and Alabama, which recently approved some of the nation’s strictest abortion restrictions.
Earlier this week, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) to Ocasio-Cortez must “unite” in efforts to make birth control over-the-counter.
A Slate review pointed that out some conservative politicians expressed support for making contraceptive pills over-the-counter in the past, likely because they didn’t want insurance to pay for contraception ― a flashpoint for politicians and religious right constituencies.
The new bill, however, ensures that while birth control is available over the counter, the pills are still fully covered by insurance.
Cruz does not appear as a co-sponsor of the bill. HuffPost reached out to Cruz’s office for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
A dozen states allow it pharmacists will prescribe birth control on site, making the pills more accessible and still affordable, as they are covered by insurance.
This article has been updated with information on the Senate bill.
CLARIFICATION: This article has been updated to show Pressley as the bill’s author and Ocasio-Cortez as one of its co-sponsors.
