New Biden executive order expands access to over-the-counter contraceptives

President Biden signed an executive order last Friday, directing the Secretaries of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (HHS) to consider expanding access to over-the-counter contraceptives approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including those that may function as abortifacients.

According to the Catholic News Agency, the order will increase access to over-the-counter contraception and reduce the cost of that contraception. It also instructs the agencies to consider guidelines that would force private health insurance companies to cover all FDA-approved contraceptions without cost sharing.

Advisers to the FDA voted unanimously in May to grant over-the-counter status to a birth control pill called Opill, though official approval from the FDA has not yet been handed down. Opill prevents ovulation in only about half of the cycles of those who take it. When ovulation does occur, Opill works in other ways as well, including by altering the endometrium, which prevents a newly created embryo from implanting, thereby aborting the embryo.

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Plan B Emergency Contraception is also available over the counter, and despite claims that it does not prevent implantation, experts including Board-certified OB/GYN Dr. Donna Harrison, executive director of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, argue that it can.

In addition, Biden’s order focuses on specific individuals and their access to contraception — including students, Medicaid recipients, and women with disabilities. The order “directs the Secretary of Education to convene institutions of higher education to share best practices and ways to make sure the students understand their options for accessing contraception.” It also directs the Secretary of the HHS, Xavier Beccera, to expand access to family planning services under Medicaid and ensure that Medicare beneficiaries, “especially women of reproductive age with disabilities,” can more easily access contraception.

This is the third executive order on so-called “reproductive health care access” that Biden has signed since the Supreme Court handed down its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in its June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This latest order was signed by Biden the day before the one year anniversary of Dobbs as pro-life groups rallied in Washington D.C.