Over-the-counter contraceptive pill in London

Feministe reports that the UK National Health Service is piloting a scheme under which women will have prescription-free access to contraception

England plans to launch two pilot programs in the London area that will provide women with nonprescription access to birth control pills, the PA/Google.com reports. The pilot programs will begin next year in the Lambeth and Southwark primary care regions of England's National Health Service, and the results will be used to determine whether the program should be expanded across England. Under the program, women seeking nonprescription oral contraception will undergo an interview with a qualified pharmacist. /.../ A Department of Health spokesperson said that the department wants "to improve women's access to contraception and help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies without undermining patient safety" and that the pilot programs will "help to show whether supplying contraception through pharmacies is effective in reducing unintended pregnancies."

I think this idea has a lot of potential and is definitely worth at least a pilot scheme. The morning after pill is already available over the counter in UK pharmacies (which makes a lot of sense given the urgent nature of taking that pill). Extending the policy to regular contraceptive pills will make life easier and contraception more convenient for a lot of women.

The comments thread at Feministe has a few people worrying about the safety of this scheme for women. I am not sure I agree that this scheme will be any more dangerous than prescription-only contraception. Women will have a consultation with a pharmacist or a nurse before they can purchase contraception - just the same procedure as for the morning after pill. I can say from personal experience that UK pharmacists are generally very professional, discrete and thorough in such consultations. Certainly, there will be exceptions - but there are also exceptions to such behaviour among doctors. In fact - and I am claiming no generalisability from my own experience here - I have met doctors who clearly felt much more awkward discussing contraception than the pharmacists I have had the same discussion with. Therefore, I think there is much more to be gained than lost from this initiative, and I hope the pilots are successful.