R Street Institute

Explainers Competition Policy

FAQ: Is It Safe for Pharmacists to Prescribe Birth Control

by Courtney Joslin
July 29, 2019
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Key Points

The pill is the most popular form of hormonal birth control, yet access remains an issue. Many states are allowing pharmacists to train to prescribe birth control as a way to increase access.
Pharmacists can–and do–perform the services required during a consultation for birth control to ensure safe prescription practices. Women report high satisfaction with the pharmacy access model and say they will continue to see a pharmacist for birth control purposes.
The medical community agrees that birth control is safe for deregulation, and allowing pharmacists to prescribe is a step toward that end.

This pharmacy access model expands birth control access in a way that saves time—pharmacists can prescribe and dispense the prescription—and sensibly increases the scope-of-practice that pharmacists can perform. This model is catching on because it takes advantage of pharmacists’ medication expertise, and because it expands access to safe and effective family planning methods.

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