Michigan Gov. Whitmer Urges Biden To Make Birth Control Available Over The Counter

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is asking President Joe Biden to make birth control available over the counter without a prescription.

(CBS DETROIT) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is asking President Joe Biden to make birth control available over the counter without a prescription.

In a letter to Biden, Whitmer says moving birth control to over-the-counter would “mitigate inequities in our healthcare system.”

Click here to read the full letter.

“We all need to get creative and use every tool in our toolbox to protect reproductive freedom in Michigan and across the United States,” Whitmer said in a press release.

“… Getting this done would knock down the most costly, time-consuming barrier to obtaining birth control. In the wake of the overturn of Roe v Wade, we must pull out all the stops to make it easier and more affordable for everyone to secure contraception and take bold steps to protect women by ensuring that health—not politics—guides medical decisions. Let’s work together so women have control over their own bodies.”

This comes after a pharmaceutical company requested permission to sell a birth control pill over the counter.

Officials say HRA Pharma submitted an application Monday seeking approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to switch Opill from Rx to over-the-counter. If approved, it would be the first daily birth control available over-the-counter without a prescription in the United States.

“This historic application marks a groundbreaking moment in contraceptive access and reproductive equity in the U.S.,” Frédérique Welgryn, Chief Strategic Operations and Innovation Officer at HRA Pharma, said in a press release.