Sign up for our Women's Health Newsletter! In a research letter published on February 4, 2019, in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers found that there was a 21.6 percent increase of women with commercial insurance getting LARCs (either IUDs, such as Mirena or Paragard, or an implant, such as Nexplanon) in the 30 days following the 2016 presidential election, as compared with the rates in the 30 days before the election. Over the past 30 years, states have expanded minors’ authority to consent to health care, including care related to sexual activity. But three years in, only fifteen percent of pharmacies offer the option and too few women know about it. Background. (4) Nearly 2⁄3 of women of reproductive age are currently using a contraceptive method. Array (2) As a result of the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ( Public Law 111–148 ), 62,800,000 women now have coverage of the full range of Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive … Yet the 2019 midterm elections saw more Democrats elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, making it clear that “they are the most pro-choice House in history,” says Gandal-Powers. It’s about not allowing abortion once the woman is pregnant. In actuality, law enforcement agents often looked the other way when it came to anti-birth control laws, but the statutes remained on the books. “(2) CERTAIN CLAIMS.—The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. Lack of maternity care providers and no guaranteed maternity leave were cited as potential causes. (10) The Food and Drug Administration has approved emergency contraception as safe and effective in preventing unintended pregnancy and has approved over-the-counter access to some forms of emergency contraception for all individuals, regardless of age. LARC insertion rates had stayed about the same in the same time period in 2015. Medicaid programs already offered free birth control prior to the health reform law, although they are not required to cover all FDA-approved birth control methods. (2) As a result of the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148), 62,800,000 women now have coverage of the full range of Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods without cost sharing. medication related to contraception, Duties of HealthyTexasWomen.org has information about the healthcare services that Texas Health and Human Services offers, including information on programs to help get birth control.. Women must apply for the programs and be approved to get services. “(2) If the customer is unable to pay for the contraceptive or the medication related to a contraceptive. Pharmacists Can Now Prescribe Birth Control, But Few Do  By Fran Kritz • Feb 15, 2019 A California law that went into effect in 2016 allows pharmacists to prescribe, not just dispense, many forms of birth control. The Guttmacher Institute monitors and analyzes legislation, regulation and judicial action related to state policy developments on access to contraception and related services. General.—Subject to subsection (c), a pharmacy that receives Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs or devices in interstate commerce shall maintain compliance with the following: “(1) If a customer requests a contraceptive or a medication related to a contraceptive that is in stock, the pharmacy shall ensure that the contraceptive or the medication related to a contraceptive is provided to the customer without delay. Kavanaugh and Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch "are not friends to birth control,” says Gandal-Powers. “(1) RULE OF pharmacies to ensure provision of FDA-approved contraception and [description] => Introduced The most obvious one is that birth control is a woman’s responsibility. J.B. Pritzker. California, Colorado, Utah, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico and Washington all have such a law. RELATED: What Is Emergency Contraception? “Our patients were concerned that their access to birth control and healthcare would be at risk under the new administration,” she said in a statement. pharmacies to ensure provision of FDA-approved contraception and “A method that’s right for one person may not be right for another. Access to contraception helps prevent unintended pregnancy and control the timing and spacing of planned births. pharmacies to ensure provision of FDA-approved contraception and May 12, 2019 at 5:04 a.m. UTC. “(2) The term ‘employee’ means a person hired, by contract or any other form of an agreement, by a pharmacy. Since Trump’s election, one new form of birth control was approved while another type has been taken off the market. Cover: Women hold signs to protest HB 481 at the state Capitol, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Atlanta. “(5) The term ‘product’ means a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug or device. A diet with more fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, and whole grains may promote mental well-being in women, suggests new research. During Gov. Trump also appointed conservative Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in October 2018, which helped bring the Supreme Court’s leanings more to the right. This ruling protects the 62 million women who gained access to affordable birth control through the Affordable Care Act. I refuse to allow women & LGBT+ rights to degrade. The Senate Democrats recently published their list of new and interesting laws that take effect in 2019. You don’t have to wait until your next appointment for a Pap smear or vaginal exam, which could be a year or more away. The reason Republicans keep taking away birth control is because Republicans want to take away your birth control. “(a) In “(e) Preemption.—This section does not preempt any provision of State law or any professional obligation made applicable by a State board or other entity responsible for licensing or discipline of pharmacies or pharmacists, to the extent that such State law or professional obligation provides protections for customers that are greater than the protections provided by this section. 2000bb et seq.) A new study found that taking hormonal contraceptives may have a small protective effect on severe cases of asthma in reproductive-age women. Jan. 14, 2019 WASHINGTON — A federal court issued a nationwide injunction on Monday that prevents the Trump administration from interfering with women’s access to free birth control … U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths Hit Record During COVID-19 Pandemic, Tippi Coronavirus: Tips for Living With COVID-19. “Birth control pills, IUD’s and other methods of birth control like that – the bill states that any birth control that could act to stop a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus is … United States of America in Congress assembled. Birth Control. Three programs featured on the HealthyTexasWomen.org website are Healthy Texas Women, the Family Planning Program, and Breast and Cervical Cancer … Law: SB-1053, effective in January 2016; SB-999, effective in January 2017 Methods covered: all FDA-approved contraceptive drugs, devices, and other products for women as prescribed by your doctor; female sterilization Extended supply: up to 12 months (that’s thanks to SB-999) Other services: device insertion and removal; patient education and counseling on birth control use; follow-up services related to your birth control use, like help managing side effects Pay attention to this: This law says your insuranc… Birth Control and Parental Consent. “(3) The term ‘medication related to contraception’ or ‘medication related to a contraceptive’ means any drug or device approved by the Food and Drug Administration that a medical professional determines necessary to use before or in conjunction with contraception or a contraceptive. … [actionDate] => 2019-04-09 article published on January 14, 2019, in Vox, Birth Control In America: A Brief History of Contraception, article published on September 7, 2018, in Vox, A High-Fiber Diet May Help Lower Depression Risk, Study Explores Promising New Approach for Treating Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), Birth Control Pills May Reduce Risk of Severe Asthma, Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Postpartum Are More Dangerous in the U.S. She says it will ban insurance from covering popular methods of birth control. [displayText] => Introduced in Senate Pursuant to Standard Pharmacy Practice, Blog – In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress, Senate - Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Senate - 04/09/2019 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Pursuant to Standard Pharmacy Practice.—This section does not prohibit a pharmacy from refusing to provide a contraceptive or a medication related to a contraceptive to a customer in accordance with any of the following: “(1) If it is unlawful to dispense the contraceptive or the medication related to a contraceptive to the customer without a valid, lawful prescription and no such prescription is presented. But what does this mean for you in the years to come? Minors’ Access to Contraceptive Services. Annovera (segesterone acetate and ethinyl estradiol vaginal system), a combined hormonal contraceptive and longer-acting vaginal ring that allows users to wear a flexible plastic ring for three weeks at a time for up to a year of use, was approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in August, 2018. is amended by adding at the end the following: “SEC. Posts about State law written by Dr. Sally Rafie. Ivey's … medication related to contraception. Claim: A proposed bill in Ohio would ban birth control pills and IUDs if it passes. State and Federal Abortion, Birth Control Laws Draw Controversy — Contraceptive coverage rule blocked nationally by federal judge by Joyce Frieden, News Editor, MedPage Today January 14, 2019 Duties of (7) Access to contraceptives at no cost has been found to contribute to significantly lower rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion. “(3) If the employee of the pharmacy refuses to provide the contraceptive or the medication related to a contraceptive on the basis of a professional clinical judgment. “Most people should still have birth control coverage right now, but it’s clear where this Administration is trying to go. No matter what the future holds in terms of whether birth control will continue to be covered by the ACA or whether women will be required to pay out of pocket for its use, experts agree that talking to a doctor or other healthcare provide is crucial, whenever you have any questions about your birth control method. Update, January 14, 2019: A federal court in Pennsylvania entered a nationwide injunction blocking the administration’s latest attack on affordable birth control. But Democrats Have Doomed It. In cases where employers have wanted to cut birth control access on moral or religious grounds, “they would have voted for the employers so that those employers would offer health insurance coverage that would not include birth control at all.” Kavanaugh has referred to some birth control methods as “abortion-inducing drugs,” according to an article published on September 7, 2018, in Vox. By the time President Barack Obama’s health law passed in 2010, employers and insurers largely began covering birth control as an important part … The laws vary among the states concerning who may get contraceptive prescriptions and counseling from a health care professional and under what circumstances. Threaten access to affordable birth control and people will take action. The 12-month use for Annovera also avoids the potential for needing to pay for a new device before a year is up, should birth control coverage become an out of pocket expense for women. Trump tried to remove birth control coverage from the ACA in 2017, but federal courts have blocked the efforts. The courts stopped them just in time. What does this mean for women who are still concerned about their access to low-cost or free birth control — especially in the latter half of Trump’s presidency, and in future years should Trump win re-election? – A U.S. judge in California on Sunday blocked Trump administration rules, which would allow more employers to opt out of providing women with no-cost birth control, from taking effect in … (6) Each year, 2,800,000 pregnancies, nearly half of all pregnancies, in the United States are unintended, and nearly half of unintended pregnancies end in abortion. The Women's Health Amendment is the provision of the ACA that requires employer-provided health insurance to include coverage for free or low-cost birth control. New findings suggest that doctors who treat women have significant knowledge gaps that could compromise the care of this debilitating condition. Extensive patient reports of Essure’s safety record also likely played a role in the declining sales, noted several patient advocates. Under the ACA, the birth control benefit meant that 62.4 million women had access to no-copay birth control. “(h) Effective Thu 16 May 2019 06.00 EDT Last modified on Fri 17 May 2019 18.43 EDT. By Gabriela Resto-Montero Jun 1, 2019, 1:46pm EDT Share this story “(A) it does not operate an environment in which customers are intimidated, threatened, or harassed in the delivery of services relating to a request for contraception or a medication related to contraception; “(B) its employees do not interfere with or obstruct the delivery of services relating to a request for contraception or a medication related to contraception; “(C) its employees do not intentionally misrepresent or deceive customers about the availability of contraception or a medication related to contraception or its mechanism of action; “(D) its employees do not breach medical confidentiality with respect to a request for a contraception or a medication related to contraception or threaten to breach such confidentiality; or. Date.—This section shall take effect on the 31st day after the date of the enactment of this section, without regard to whether the Secretary has issued any guidance or final rule regarding this section.”. What does the future of birth control coverage look like? “(B) If the customer prefers for the pharmacy to order the contraceptive or the medication related to a contraceptive, the pharmacy shall obtain the contraceptive or the medication related to a contraceptive under the pharmacy’s standard procedure for expedited ordering of medication and notify the customer when the contraceptive or the medication related to a contraceptive arrives. ... “It’s not about birth control or the morning after the pill. With the Affordable Care Act in place since 2012, the median out of pocket costs for an IUD went down from $40 to $0, note researchers, who followed nearly 3.5 million women with private health insurance to determine LARC usage. ), (PDF provides a complete and accurate display of this text. medication related to contraception. Essure, a birth control method that had been described as “the closest procedure akin to a male vasectomy” in an Everyday Health report, was removed from the U.S. market at the end of 2018, following a July 2017 announcement by parent company Bayer regarding Essure’s declining sales. Interest in the IUD and other types of affordable, long-acting contraception increased right after the 2016 presidential election, a report finds. Related: Birth Control In America: A Brief History of Contraception, “If you are feeling apprehensive about birth control, it is a good time to talk to your healthcare provider about it,” says Mara Gandal-Powers, director of birth control access and senior counsel on reproductive rights and health at the National Women’s Law Center in Washington, DC. Part B of title II of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. contraception, and for other purposes. Access to contraception helps prevent unintended pregnancy and control the timing and spacing of planned births. “(2) If a customer requests a contraceptive or a medication related to a contraceptive that is not in stock and the pharmacy in the normal course of business stocks contraception or the medication related to contraception, the pharmacy shall immediately inform the customer that the contraceptive or the medication related to a contraceptive is not in stock and without delay offer the customer the following options: “(A) If the customer prefers to obtain the contraceptive or the medication related to a contraceptive through a referral or transfer, the pharmacy shall—, “(i) locate a pharmacy of the customer’s choice or the closest pharmacy confirmed to have the contraceptive or the medication related to a contraceptive in stock; and. Abortion. “(E) its employees do not refuse to return a valid, lawful prescription for a contraception or a medication related to contraception upon customer request. “(1) CIVIL It’s important for every person to talk with their doctor or other healthcare provider about which method may work best for their health and their life.”. Few topics are as divisive as abortion. © 1996-2021 Everyday Health, Inc. Such long-acting birth control is highly effective at preventing pregnancy; it can be used for up to 12 years without requiring replacement. SEC. Administration-approved contraception, medication related to “(b) Contraceptives or medication related to a contraceptive not ordinarily stocked.—Nothing in subsection (a)(2) shall be construed to require any pharmacy to comply with such subsection if the pharmacy does not ordinarily stock contraceptives or medication related to a contraceptive in the normal course of business. “The Trump-Pence administration has continually tried to cut access to reproductive healthcare, including the latest attacks on Title X, the nation’s only federal program dedicated to family planning,” which includes birth control coverage. The bill repeals Illinois laws that placed restrictions on abortion, and is expected to be signed into law by Gov. “(3) LIMITATIONS.—A civil action under paragraph (1) or (2) may not be commenced against a pharmacy after the expiration of the 5-year period beginning on the date on which the pharmacy allegedly engaged in the violation involved. With ongoing legislation in different states, two January 2019 court decisions mandated that nationwide birth control access must remain in place, while the state suits move forward to determine if larger group employers can decide to take away birth control coverage through their health insurance plans due to moral or religious objection, according to an article published on January 14, 2019, in Vox. This effort is used to prepare monthly updates on new policy developments and the status of state laws and policies. PENALTY.—A pharmacy that violates a requirement of subsection (a) is liable to the United States for a civil penalty in an amount not exceeding $1,000 per day of violation, not to exceed $100,000 for all violations adjudicated in a single proceeding. The law offers no exception for rape or incest victims because, as … The inaugural States Forum on Pharmacist Birth Control Services was recently held in conjunction with the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) 2019 Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington.This session was hosted by “(6) The term ‘professional clinical judgment’ means the use of professional knowledge and skills to form a clinical judgment, in accordance with prevailing medical standards. The courts can ultimately overturn the laws if they're found to be unconstitutional. “(2) PRIVATE CAUSE OF “We know we have great champions in the House and Senate for birth control.” Indeed, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was elected to the House in late 2018 and upset the long-term incumbent representing her district in New York state, has castigated Kavanaugh on Twitter, writing in September before she was elected: “Brett Kavanaugh doesn’t even know what birth control IS. 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