The Best News Yet
Over-the-counter birth control pill. The best news in reproductive freedom in many years happened last week when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for sale the over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill.
This is HUGE news. It is the first time that birth control pills will be available to people without needing a prescription. It is a victory for bodily autonomy; there is no need to get approval or permission to use this pill. Here is a great op-ed from my friend, Dan Grossman, about why this decision is so important to women’s health. He writes, “My colleagues and I were heartened to see that the conversation around Opill was generally grounded in evidence, rather than politics. We now have hope that other advances could be coming to help offset restrictions on minors’ access to contraception and state-level abortion bans.”
As I’ve written before, the FDA is a decision-making black box. It is impossible to know why and when decisions are made. However, it is still made up of people who are following the news, and providing more options for contraception right now, a year after Roe was overturned, is critically important for women. And this means we need to keep pressuring the FDA to make abortion medication available over the counter as well. Let’s keep going!
One thing to watch is that the price of this pill could be out of reach for a lot of women. But I have an idea: how about the wealthiest philanthropists create a fund to offset the price of all contraception methods and make them all available for, say, $5 a month? Wouldn’t that be a boon for humanity! I think I’ll start a campaign to do that — are you in?
Domestic violence soars. The Domestic Violence Hotline just released its 2022 impact report. One of the more horrific outcomes of restrictions on abortion access is the rise of domestic violence. Unwanted pregnancies are a trigger for abusers and the instances of domestic violence have risen significantly since Roe was overturned. The number of calls to the hotline has surged since Roe was overturned. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-link-between-a-lack-of-reproductive-rights-and-domestic-violence
Progress in Ohio. Abortion rights supporters submitted petitions with double the number of required signatures to get an amendment added to the Ohio constitution to protect reproductive freedom. Of course, as with so many efforts to curtail individual and democratic rights, the Republican majority of the Ohio legislature created a special election to make change the process for passing a constitutional amendment to a 60% threshold, rather than the current 50%. And they made the vote for that on August 8th, the dead zone of summer when they hope that no one would be around to vote. Here is a quick primer about the Ohio amendments: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/do-you-have-questions-about-ohios-august-constitution-issue-we-want-to-answer-them/ar-AA1cLMal
Clearly, the Ohio legislature hasn’t been following the results from the last two years because early voting is already surging in Ohio, a sign that people are paying attention and don’t like when their rights are being taken away.
Florida is about to follow the same pattern as Ohio after the governor signed a six-week ban in the middle of the night. Clearly, even hard-right politicians understand that their actions are not popular with the public. Advocates already have half the signatures necessary to get a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights on the Florida ballot in 2024.
Things you can do today:
1. Support the citizen’s rights in Ohio. You can join through Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom. Vote (and remind your friends to vote) on or before August 8th!
2. If you’re in an investing mood, join VCs for Repro. Over 100 VCs have joined this effort to seriously increase investments in reproductive start ups. It is a people-first early-stage venture firm.”
3. Support services for women who are victims of domestic violence. Here is a comprehensive list of ways you can support victims: https://domesticviolence.org/resources-supporting-survivors-domestic-violence/
4. Doctors Join Physicians for Reproductive Health. Several physicians have asked me how they can help. Physicians for Reproductive Health is a fantastic organization and a great way to lend your time and expertise to the cause.