Free the Pill

I received a helpful text on my phone one day. “Text REPLY to refill your prescription of [norgestimate and ethinyl estradiol tablets].” Not sparing a second thought to the ease and convenience of my modern life, I texted back and expected to be able to pick up my prescription of birth control later in the day.

A few hours later, my phone lit up. I checked it, fully expecting to see a message about my prescription being ready to be picked up. Instead, it told me that my prescription has run out of refills and that I needed to contact my health care provider to get more.

I called my doctor’s office, thinking that I could easily speak with a nurse and remedy the situation. Instead, I was told that I had to speak with someone called a ‘family planner’ and that, due to the pandemic, it would have to be a Zoom call.

“That’s fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “When can I expect this call?”

“In two weeks at the soonest.”

My stock of pills would be out in a week. I would have to go without taking birth control for two more weeks and seriously devastate my already delicate cycle. But nothing I did or said would change this fact.

I complained about this to my husband since he was the only other person in our locked-down household. “I bet you five dollars this ‘family planner’ is a man,” I growled as I paced the room.

“What’s that got to do with it?” he asked.

“Everything.”

Two weeks passed. I eventually received the call from the mysterious all-powerful family planner. My husband owes me five dollars. It was indeed a man I spoke to. After confirming my identity, he had a bevy of questions to ask me.

“How old are you?” he asked.

“Thirty-five,” I said.

“And how many children do you have?”

“None,” I said.

“None? You are thirty-five. Are you certain you want to keep taking birth control?” he asked.

Now I was starting to shake. You know that kind of shaking, where you’re ready to tear someone apart. “I am absolutely certain that I want to continue my prescription of birth control.”

I could hear him typing away. “And how many sexual partners do you have?”

Oh my fucking god, what does that matter? I wanted to scream at him. But I kept my collective shit together because I didn’t want to piss off my dealer, so to speak. “Just one. My husband.”

“We have to ask,” he said.

Do you?

I don’t remember the rest of the conversation. Eventually, I finished the painful, intrusive conversation and managed to get my prescription approved that very same day. It was that easy.

It should not be this way. I should not have to endure a barrage of unnecessary, humiliating questions every. Single. Year. In fact, and you might want to sit down, I believe the Pill (or any other kind of oral contraceptive) should be available over the counter.

It’s safe. It’s effective. It’s available in a hundred other different countries. Why not the US?

Probably because of our Puritan heritage that fears women’s bodily autonomy. Probably because of men not wanting to think about women actually having sex for pleasure rather than providing them an heir.

Probably because of the patriarchal tradition of the good ol’ U S of A.

But imagine the wonders an OTC birth control would bring. Teenage girls could actually have a means to have the sex they were already going to have (abstinence is a shit form of protection) instead of relying on horny boys to actually remember to bring and wear a condom. Girls and women wouldn’t have to get permission from their doctors every time they wanted a refill. Girls and women wouldn’t have to get time off work for an appointment in a clinic or hospital. These kinds of visits are difficult for people living in rural areas or have disabilities anyway. These visits are unnecessary and harmful in the long run.

Unwanted pregnancies would drop drastically. More girls could spend more time in school getting their education rather than tending to a child they accidentally conceived in one night of passion. More girls could seek higher education, unburdened by a child. Maybe even crime would drop.

To all you Pro-Lifers, there would be fewer abortions because a baby wouldn’t happen in the first place. If you really cared about the ‘dear little angels’ then stop worrying about women having sex and start lobbying for an OTC birth control.

I know there are some states that have pharmacist-prescribed birth control, but that’s only in Hawaii, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington, and even then, it’s a far cry from a true OTC.

Even the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists think it should be sold without a prescription.

I want America to stop treating women and girls like we’re still living in colonial times. It’s time to free the pill.

This story is just a rant. Visit https://freethepill.org/ to find out what you can do to help.