Target: Oregon Governor Kate Brown
Goal: Praise decision to allow access to over-the-counter birth control without a prescription.
Beginning January 2016, women 18 and older in the state of Oregon can now purchase birth control over the counter without a prescription. Thanks to activists, including a petition on ForceChange, this subject has been exposed and we are finally seeing progress in birth control without a prescription, with Oregon being the first state. The new law breaks down one barrier to birth control and is a forward movement towards heath care rights of women. This new law ensures women will also be able to obtain years worth of contraceptives.
According to a study by the CDC, 49 percent of pregnancies in the U.S. were unplanned and, with continued access to oral contraceptives, it’s estimated this number will decrease. The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology supports this assumption with results from a study showing decreased unplanned pregnancies in women with a year’s supply of oral contraceptives. This is an important development in women’s rights that comes at a time when agencies such as Planned Parenthood fight for their existence.
Women’s access to family planning and sexual health services should be an unquestionable right. Oregon is the first state to implement an over-the-counter birth control law, but California, Washington, and Colorado are now drafting theirs by example. Thank Oregon Governor Kate Brown for her courageous decision to legalize over-the-counter birth control in support of women’s rights.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Governor Brown,
Millions of women across the United States do not have easy access to various birth control methods. The rate of unplanned pregnancies and abortions are staggering, but will only continue to grow with the current war on Planned Parenthood. You have taken an important step in this war by fighting limited access to oral contraceptives. By making birth control available over the counter to the women of Oregon State you’ve advocated for not just the rights of Oregon, but also the rights of all American women.
Women’s healthcare is a basic right and unfortunately has gone ignored for too long. Though you have broken down a wall there are more barriers, which need to be removed. It will take hard work, commitment, and solidarity but with examples such as yours the fight will be easier won. Thank you for providing over the counter access to birth control for the women of Oregon State, and allowing them the power to control they’re own destinies and those of future generations.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Nate Grigg
i once asked walmart if they sell birth control over the counter and they did not sell them so i once took birth control drugs that my doc had prescribed me to lighten my periods but it didnt work.