Access to Birth Control Act (HR 2596 & S. 1555)
Introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)

What it is
Why you should support it
Bill Status
Take Action


What it is>>

In reaction to some pharmacies unwilling to sell contraception to their customers, the Access to Birth Control Act (ABC Act) will guarantee a women's right to purchase birth control, including over-the-counter emergency contraception.  The ABC Act would make it illegal for a pharmacy to refuse to fill birth control prescriptions and require pharmacies to help, not hinder a woman's ability to access contraception.

Why you should support it>>

• Filling prescriptions is the purpose of a pharmacy.  The very nature of a pharmacy is that upon direction of a physician, medications are provided to the patient.  Is contraception just the beginning of pharmacies deciding what medications you should take?  What if they refuse to prescribe generics because they are not really comparable to name brands?  What if they think one antibiotic is better than another?  There is a duty to the patient to provide the medication requested by that individual and his or her physician.  Concerns from the American Medical Association that pharmacist's refusals jeopardize a patient's health, compromise the patient-physician relationship, and are a form of discrimination has led it to endorse this legislation.
  
  
• It addresses discrimination against women in healthcare. About 80 percent of Americans oppose a pharmacy's ability to refuse to fill prescriptions for their patients - largely because it denies women their legal right to contraception.  Yet the current reality of scattered approaches to this issue leaves many women trying to obtain contraception - particularly rural and low income women who are limited by the number of pharmacies that might be accessible to them.  Women in need of medications should not be discriminated against.
  
  
• It protects women's health. Refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control, including emergency contraception, can put women's health at risk.  For example, birth control treats a range of medical conditions beyond preventing pregnancy - but your local pharmacist may arbitrarily decide he or she doesn't want to give birth control to you.  Because effective emergency contraception is time sensitive, determining a pharmacy where a prescription can be filled in a timely manner can be very difficult, if not impossible.  This is especially discriminatory and challenging for women who may have been sexually assaulted.

Bill Status>>

After being introduced in both the House and Senate on June 6, 2007, the Access to Birth Control Act was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Take Action>>

Help build support for this vital legislation. Make a phone call today:

• Contact your Representative and ask him or her to co-sponsor the Access to Birth Control Act. Click here to find your Representative and his or her contact information.
• Contact your Senators and ask them to co-sponsor the bill.  Click here to find your Senators and their contact information.