The Food and Drug Administration approved Norgestrel, a nonprescription birth control pill, on Thursday. To be sold under the brand name Opill, it's the U.S.'s first over-the-counter contraceptive. The U.K. made similar products available in 2021.
"Today's approval marks the first time a nonprescription daily oral contraceptive will be an available option for millions of people in the United States," Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, the director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. "When used as directed, daily oral contraception is safe and is expected to be more effective than currently available nonprescription contraceptive methods in preventing unintended pregnancy."
Here's the FDA's formal statement:
Nonprescription availability of Opill may reduce barriers to access by allowing individuals to obtain an oral contraceptive without the need to first see a health care provider. Almost half of the 6.1 million pregnancies in the U.S. each year are unintended. Unintended pregnancies have been linked to negative maternal and perinatal outcomes, including reduced likelihood of receiving early prenatal care and increased risk of preterm delivery, with associated adverse neonatal, developmental and child health outcomes. Availability of nonprescription Opill may help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and their potential negative impacts
Conservatives will be happy to see something out there which helps prevent abortion!
