WI: Assembly lawmakers look at allowing pharmacists to prescribe birth control

[RandySF]

Patients over the age of 18 would be able to get a birth control prescription from a pharmacist rather than a primary care physician, under a bill considered by Wisconsin Assembly lawmakers on Tuesday.

Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay), the lead Assembly bill author, told the Assembly Health, Aging and Long-Term Care committee that he decided to reintroduce the bill because of continued barriers to accessing birth control and the high costs associated with unplanned pregnancies.

“We’re proposing AB 176 to give women more choices in reproductive health care, decrease the number of unplanned pregnancies and abortions in our state, save taxpayer dollars and reduce generational poverty.” Kitchens said.

The bill was initially announced alongside Republican bill that would update Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban to include rape and incest exceptions during the first trimester and clarify the “life of the mother” exception already included in the law.

Currently in Wisconsin, patients seeking birth control must make an appointment with a doctor or advanced practice nurse, answer a mandatory list of questions regarding their health and then if it is safe for them to take hormonal birth control, they are given that prescription to take to a pharmacy to be filled.



https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2023/06/07/assembly-lawmakers-look-at-allowing-pharmacists-to-prescribe-birth-control/