CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolinians will be able to receive certain types of birth control from qualified pharmacists without a prescription effective Feb. 1.
The move comes as part of a law Gov. Roy Cooper signed on Aug. 20. Other sections of House Bill 96 have already gone into effect.
Section 1 of the bill allows qualified pharmacists to provide "self-administered oral or transdermal contraceptives after the patient completes an assessment consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's United States Medical Eligibility Criteria (US MEC) for Contraceptive Use."'
Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, Jillian Riley said the organization applauds this move.
"By eliminating the need for many patients to first get a prescription from a doctor, this law makes it easier for folks to get birth control. We know that the vast majority of women will use birth control over the course of their lifetime. And making it something that is easily accessible, like being able to go up to their pharmacists and receive expands access to this critical piece of reproductive health care, especially for people living in rural areas."
The bill does not allow a pharmacist to provide ulipristal acetate for emergency contraception, like a morning-after pill, without the patient having a prescription from a doctor. However, the new law does not affect your ability to get the most common type of over-the-counter emergency contraception: plan b. It would cover birth control pills and patches.
There is an assessment customers must complete to get birth control.
"You still do need to speak with a medical professional, who is a pharmacist, and just complete that questionnaire before they're able to receive oral contraceptives," Riley said.
Executive Director for the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy, Jay Campbell said pharmacists are still waiting for final protocols to be put in place by the state department of health and human services before the services can get underway. He expects it to happen very soon.
"It will set forth the types of screening and any education that a pharmacist needs to have, the screening pharmacist needs to do for patients and how to actually provide the medications to patients," Campbell said.
According to the bill, qualified pharmacists will also be allowed to prescribe prenatal vitamins, HIV medications and nicotine replacement therapy.
You can view the bill below:
According to the North Carolina Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System fact sheet for 2009, 44% of unplanned pregnancies resulted in births. The data was comprised from 2004 to 2009.
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