Itβs official: Arizonan adults can now walk into a pharmacy and get birth control pills, hormonal rings or patches without prescriptions.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists formally signed off Thursday on rules written by the Arizona Board of Pharmacy that scrap the requirement for an individual prescription to get hormonal contraceptives. A standing order issued late Thursday by the Arizona Department of Health Services authorizes pharmacists to dispense them without seeing individual prescriptions.
Before obtaining such contraceptives, however, customers must first answer a series of questions the pharmacist will be required to ask, under the law and rules, to ensure use of hormonal birth control is appropriate for them. These range from questions about current pregnancy and recent childbirth to health factors, including smoking and/or a history of blood clots, that could make use of the birth control inappropriate.
Based on the answers, the pharmacist has the option of turning away patients and referring them instead to a clinic or health care provider.
Also, the law still requires anyone younger than 18 to present an individual prescription issued by a doctor or other medical professional with prescription-writing privileges.
Customers seeking hormonal contraceptives should consider making an appointment before showing up at pharmacies, suggested Kam Gandhi, executive director of the Arizona Board of Pharmacy.
Thatβs partly because it will take the customers some time to fill out the required questionnaire and have it evaluated by the pharmacist. Another reason is to make sure the pharmacy stocks the preferred form of contraceptive sought.
The new law spells out that pharmacists who want to provide contraceptives based on the standing order must get three hours of special training on renewing their licenses every two years.
Two hours of training have already been made available, Gandhi said. He said the third hour can be fulfilled starting Friday, July 7, with a video the Arizona Pharmacy Association will make available.
The change is due to state legislation approved in 2021, but it took until now for the Board of Pharmacy to write the rules and get the legally required public input. That part was completed Wednesday when the rules were unanimously approved by the Governor's Regulatory Review Council.
Then, on Thursday, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists gave its legally required approval to the final rules and the self-screening questionnaire.
The 2021 law was pushed through by then-state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, and signed by then-Gov. Doug Ducey. It had fairly broad bipartisan support as most legislators accepted Ugenti-Rita's arguments that the pill, first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1960, is generally considered safe.
The change ensures access for women who may not have a regular relationship with a doctor or health care provider who can issue the annual prescriptions, or may live in a community without someone who has prescription-writing privileges, Ugenti-Rita said.
There was no mention of Ugenti-Rita or Ducey in a news release issued by Gov. Katie Hobbs. Instead, Hobbs said the change in law, which she had nothing to do with, was part of her effort of βstanding up to the extremists who threaten access to the basic healthcare our families rely on.ββ
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