No, over-the-counter birth control isn’t likely to reduce abortion rates

(National Review) On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it has granted approval to Opill, the first-ever oral contraceptive that will be available without a prescription. Media reports indicate that Opill will be available for purchase in convenience stores and grocery stories in early 2024. Mainstream media coverage of this decision was very positive, and this decision was applauded by the Guttmacher Institute, NARAL and other groups that support legal abortion. In its statement, the FDA said that the ability to buy Opill over the counter may reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in the United States.

However, the FDA’s decision raises plenty of concerns. In November 2022, The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Medical Association, the National Catholic Bioethics Center, and the National Association of Catholic Nurses released a statement opposing approval of Opill. They noted that Opill poses serious health risks for women with various medical conditions, including breast cancer and liver disease. They also noted the Opill may cause side effects including ovarian cysts, abnormal bleeding, and depression — which has been a significant problem in recent years among young women.  They also noted that the failure rate of Opill is higher than that of other hormonal contraceptives.

READ: FDA approves potentially risky over-the-counter contraceptive… with zero age restrictions

Furthermore, efforts to expand access to contraception have proven to be a poor strategy for lowering either the unintended-pregnancy rate or the abortion rate. There are multiple reasons. First, contraceptives encourage sexual risk-taking and have a failure rate. The Guttmacher Institute’s own data show that 50 percent of all women seeking abortions were using some form of contraception the month that they became pregnant. Furthermore, even though data from the Centers for Disease Control indicate that contraceptive use has increased since the early 1980s, there has not been a consistent, durable decline in the unintended-pregnancy rate since that time.

Additionally, multiple studies show that few sexually active women have difficulty accessing contraceptives. In a Guttmacher Institute study in 2002, approximately 10,000 women were surveyed who had obtained abortions. Of those not using contraception, only 12 percent cited cost or availability as reasons. More common reasons for not using contraception included wanting to show trust in a partner and a willingness to risk getting pregnant. Similarly in 2012, a CDC study of nearly 5,000 teenage girls who gave birth also found that only a small percentage had difficulty accessing contraception.

In the past, social conservatives have expressed concerns about the health risks involved with contraceptives and about the efficacy of contraceptive programs. These concerns have been largely ignored by policy-makers and mainstream media. Indeed, the FDA’s decision to approve Opill received almost uniformly positive coverage from mainstream media outlets. That said, plenty of data show that the contraceptive culture has done considerable damage to both families and public health. Conservatives should oppose the FDA’s approval of Opill and ask future Republican presidential administrations to revoke the FDA approval for Opill and other over-the-counter contraceptives.

Editor’s Note: This article was published at National Review and is reprinted here with permission.