You can get birth control from places that don't require insurance like MinuteClinics and online for a cost of about $20 for the visit. I'm pretty sure the online option does not have long wait times.

This is 3 hours of minimum wage work to get a rubber stamp to get it. Interesting.

Likely much more if you consider the actual cost of the medication.

Last time i had to pay out of pocket (because insurance won't cover more than 3 months at a time and I was going out of the country for 6) my GENERIC BC was 89.99 per month. The brand name is something like $189. I can't take cheaper forms because they have negative interactions with my brain chemistry that make me suicidal. BC is offensively expensive and needlessly difficult to obtain.

As an aside, the amount of patronizing in these comments along the lines of "but these women will clearly take the medicine wrong or fail to understand the consequences of their actions if we don't have them speak to a doctor first!" is just... really telling.

One of the routine problems I see around this place is how the folks who flock to "intellectual" spaces are both the intellectual and the ignorant who fancy themselves the former's equal.

I'm terribly sorry to have read your experience. I empathize deeply, though my situation is different (migraine medication vs birth control), in my experiences in having dealt with doctors and insurance companies to get both the medication I need and in an amount that will get me through.

I hope this change and others like it help bring you comfort and safe, affordable access to medicine you need.

In some states in the US, sure. But that requires you to both be in a state that is served by the service, know that it exists and is available, and still pay out of pocket.

Availability and discovery are absolutely massive to health services. Most people don't know about their options, and many more don't even have the option in the first place.

Having this be OTC is a massive step in that regard.

Let's make people go to a clinic to get any medicine then. If it isn't such a hassle, you won't mind?

I have a feeling you might be the type of person to think government should get out of the way of most things. Why is it not such a big deal in this case?

I generally am in favor of government getting out of the way. I'm not necessarily against this being OTC either. I think a lot of the arguments being made here are not applicable and this won't be as big of a deal as people are making it out to be. I'm skeptical that this will bring any real net benefit over the current state.

That said, I do believe there is a massive overuse of hormonal contraception which is partially contributing to several negative factors in society right now. This should be addressed through education and informed consent (the Rx process isn't really doing this either, so...).

You are letting one ideological belief conflict with another and yet you don't realize it. When you feel strongly about something, don't excuse it like "I think a lot of the arguments being made here are not applicable and this won't be as big of a deal as people are making it out to be."

First of all: are you the person affected by this change? If you aren't, try and imagine being a person that was. If you cannot empathize at all with the other side, perhaps it isn't something you should be arguing for or against.

Second: does this vibe with how you would treat someone you normally would disagree with politically, if the position were flipped? Say there is something you think government shouldn't have a say in (apparently not family planning, but you can think of something... guns? business?) then have them argue 'it isn't such a big deal to have to jump through this bureaucratic hoop and the reasons we make you do this is are obviously not as overt as we pretend'. How would you feel about that argument?