One of the disappointments of the 2016 regular session was the failure of HB 191, a bill that would have allowed dental therapists to provide routine care such as drilling and filling cavities.
Occupational-licensing tyranny in the healthcare field is a target-rich environment for reforms that are sure to benefit both consumers and taxpayers. Last week, the Pew Research Center profiled another promising deregulation: permitting pharmacists to supply contraceptives to women without a doctor’s prescription.
“California pharmacists will begin writing their own prescriptions for birth control next month,” Pew reported, “and lawmakers in Hawaii, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington are considering legislation that would give pharmacists the power to prescribe contraceptives.”
Let’s add New Mexico to that list. Pew’s research shows that the Land of Enchantment ranks #9 in unintended pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15-44, and #11 in unintended pregnancies as a percentage of all pregnancies.
In New Mexico and throughout the nation, the welfare-industrial complex is founded on illegitimacy. An enormous cohort of children born to, and raised by, single mothers acts as a force multiplier for all manner of social pathologies. Letting pharmacists sell prescription-free contraception is no cure for unwed pregancies, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Do we really want to prevent unwanted pregnancy and reduce the need for, and number of, abortions, as well as the spread of sexually transmitted diseases?
If we do, then a barrel full of birth-control pills, all other forms of contraceptives, condoms, morning-after pills and anything else that will prevent pregnancy, either before or after having sexual intercourse, should be available, free to all, and kept just inside pharmacy windows. Any person, of any age, can simply step up to the counter and ask for whichever form of birth control they want.
I think the expense involved would be small compared to what our current, antiquated, and in many cases, religion-driven, approach is costing us now.
I think making them “over the counter” is a pretty good start. Not sure if a barrel full of contraceptives makes sense or not….
Paul, I must compliment you on your message board. It is the most user-friendly of the many I have encountered. Thank you, Ken