Women in California of any age can now obtain birth control without a doctor’s prescription from any pharmacy in the state.
According to the new rules, any woman has to fill out a questionnaire at the pharmacy to get access to a variety of contraceptive measures. Under the law, any woman can get self-administered hormonal birth control. This translates to birth control pills, patches, and injections, as well as vaginal rings. The rules do not apply to birth control methods that would require a doctor—like implants or IUDs.
According to the L.A. Times, when women visit the pharmacy to get birth control, a pharmacist will first take her blood pressure, and ask for her to fill out a questionnaire to ensure hormonal birth control is safe for her. Then, the patient can either ask for a specific type of birth control, or ask the pharmacist for recommendations. The pharmacist will offer instructions and side-effect information.
California is only the third state to allow women to get hormonal birth control directly from a pharmacist, along with Washington and Oregon.
