Breaking: new CAI report quantifies for the first time the impact of providing no-cost insurance for over-the-counter contraceptives. Explore this groundbreaking report, authored by Adam Sonfield and Dana Singiser.
Victory!! Today the FDA announced approval of the first over-the-counter birth control pill. Eliminating the barrier of a prescription will improve access for all.
#ThePillOTC
#FreethePill
As
#WomensHistoryMonth
begins, CAI celebrates a major milestone: After 60 years, the first OTC birth control pill is arriving on store shelves! Sending gratitude to all the trailblazers who fought (and keep fighting!) for contraceptive access for all.
@powertodecide
@freethepill
CAI has launched the first-ever major ad campaign to advance affordable over-the-counter birth control! Check out the roadmap to making this a reality:
“In this post-Roe world, I implore the FDA to continue the recent positive momentum on women’s health and equity and move swiftly to approve access to the pill without the medically unnecessary barrier of a prescription.” - CAI Chief Med Advisor
@DrRaegan
CAI's
@DrRaegan
says it best: "It is essential for health insurance companies to cover OTC birth control, including Opill, without requiring a prescription — because no price will be affordable for all who need it, and everyone deserves to have access."
Tomorrow marks one year since the FDA’s approval of the first over-the-counter birth control pill: a historic step forward for contraceptive access! Watch CAI’s new video about the roadmap to affordable over-the-counter contraception for all:
This
#FreeThePillDay
, let’s celebrate the newly arrived, first over-the-counter birth control pill — no RX or ID needed! 💊🎉 Now, CAI’s work to ensure affordability and access to the pill for all continues.
"'This approval is a historic advancement to reproductive healthcare in this country,' said Dana Singiser, co-founder of Contraceptive Access Initiative, a group focused on improving access to oral birth control."
@sarahtoy17
@WSJ
#ThePillOTC
Breaking: The Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth-control pill, significantly expanding access to contraception among women across the U.S.
On
#WorldContraceptionDay
, CAI celebrates a long overdue advancement in contraception accessibility: this year’s FDA decision to grant
#Opill
over-the-counter status.
Next up: making OTC contraception truly affordable.
CAI applauds WI
@GovEvers
efforts to make birth control free for Medicaid patients, without the barrier of a doctor’s visit. We urge other states to follow suit in prioritizing contraceptive accessibility and affordability for anyone who needs it.
“This is the latest in a long line of bills that Republicans throw out there that purport to be pro-contraception bills. When you peel back the layers of the onion, there’s always a catch."
- CAI co-founder Dana Singiser
“It is clearly a huge priority for the reproductive health community to make sure that the on-the-shelf price truly is affordable for the consumers who tend to have less access to health care,” Ms. Singiser said.
#FreethePill
@nytimes
@Alisha__g
Today, in a major win for health equity,
@POTUS
signed an executive order to expand and protect affordable access to birth control. EO includes insurance coverage for the pill OTC, which the FDA is expected to approve this summer.
Thank you
@PattyMurray
and
@RepPressley
for having us and for co-sponsoring the Affordability is Access Act, which would expand insurance coverage to non-prescription oral contraceptives! Read more about the legislation here:
CAI was honored to co-host the "Accessible Consumer Choices: Shaping the Future of Contraceptive Care at Pharmacies" summit with
@pharmacists
, and appreciate support from the White House Gender Policy Council and HHS.
“The FDA can only function as an independent, evidence-based decision maker when it is free from interference by religious ideology and political agendas.” - Dana Singiser, CAI Co-founder
Thank you,
@DemWomenCaucus
, for including expanded access to over-the-counter contraception as part of your recently released Executive Action Agenda! It’s vital to keep pushing for affordable, accessible contraception for all — particularly for people without health insurance
“We request that the tri-agencies issue guidance clarifying that health plans must cover [over-the-counter] contraceptive products without a prescription and without out-of-pocket costs."
New from me: 91 House Democrats sent a letter to the Biden administration, first obtained by The New Republic, asking them to ensure insurance coverage for contraceptive care (including OTC drugs) without cost sharing.
On
@freethepill
’s
#FreethePill
day, the
@US_FDA
advisory committee is discussing the 1st-ever application for an OTC progestin-only pill. The facts: science and data support the efficacy, safety and viability of over-the-counter birth control.
Great news! The FDA process for approving the mini-pill contraceptive for over-the-counter status is speeding along. The advisory committee (comprised of medical and public health experts) will take place on Nov 18. Momentum is building!
SCOTUS has agreed to hear a case that challenges the FDA’s decision-making on medication abortion. FDA’s autonomy when ruling on reproductive health drugs–just like they do with all other drugs–is at stake. This is a pivotal case to track.
The FDA’s historic decision to bring Opill over the counter was highlighted in many 2023 year-in-review roundups! Last year was a momentous win for access to contraception — and, there is a lot of work left to do to achieve true accessibility for all!.
“We have seen too often reproductive health face unnecessary barriers, delays, complications, stigma, and bias… It ultimately interferes with women having access to the care that they need—and that they deserve.”- Dana Singiser, CAI co-founder
#ThePillOTC
From
@OrianaBeLike
at
@axios
, "7 in 10 voters support making birth control pills available without a prescription in the U.S., according to a national poll by the Contraceptive Access Initiative.”
“It’s about access… We have to have a choice.”
Frédérique Welgryn, Perrigo’s global VP for women’s health, is named by
@FortuneMagazine
as one of "13 innovators shaping the future of health" for her role in the fight for the pill OTC — well-deserved!
You can help make
#birthcontrol
pills available over-the-counter, without a prescription, by telling your story!
The FDA will decide soon + sharing your birth control journey can help. Click to share your story:
#FreeThePill
Congratulations to Dr. Stephanie Sober, a CAI advisory board member & medical liaison at Perrigo, who
@TIME
named on their inaugural list of the 100 most influential people in health! Thank you, Stephanie, for your instrumental work in advancing access to contraception!
Massive breakthrough for repro health equity!
@US_FDA
expert committee UNANIMOUSLY recommends over-the-counter access to the progestin-only contraceptive “mini-pill”
#FreethePill
#ThePillOTC
Happy (belated)
#InternationalWomensDay
! CAI celebrates women and girls today and every day. We think it’s about time to trust them with their own reproductive health decisions.
#FreeThePill
We want to give an
#InternationalWomensDay
shout out to contraception.
Access to birth control has been a game-changer for millions of people worldwide. It has empowered folks to take control of their lives, pursue education, careers, & plan their futures.
#ThxBirthControl
💪🏼🌟
“We applaud
@POTUS
for his continued commitment to contraceptive access, and for recognizing the importance of ensuring that OTC contraception — including emergency contraception, condoms, and we expect soon an oral contraception pill — is also made affordable." - CAI Co-founder
Allowing birth control to be sold on drugstore shelves – at an affordable price point – would work to close the gaps in access to reliable contraception.
@freethepill
#FreethePillDay
“The advisory committee followed the scientific evidence and paved the way for a massive breakthrough in access to birth control,” said
@DrRaegan
, CEO of
@powertodecide
, chief medical advisor for CAI and practicing OB-GYN. “This long overdue advancement is a huge step forward in
Ann McGuiness, a behind-the-scenes force in women’s health and reproductive rights who raised vast amounts of money for Planned Parenthood and other groups, has died at 65.
We'd like to take National Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness Day to remind the
@US_FDA
that we all deserve the right to equitable reproductive health care! It's time to put the pill over the counter.
#FreeThePill
#ThePillOTC
In recent
#ReproductiveHealth
wins, last month the FDA debunked the myth that emergency contraception is equivalent to abortion, and this month they allowed pharmacies to fill prescriptions for medication abortion. Solid wins for medical science and for public health!
"Regardless of the result, it will not have an immediate impact on emergency contraception," CAI co-founder Dana Singiser told
@USATODAY
of Tuesday’s Supreme Court hearing on the future of mifepristone access