LITTLE CHUTE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Birth control could soon be prescribed and dispensed by pharmacists across Wisconsin.
The bill passed the State Assembly Wednesday. It will now head to the Senate, where a similar measure stalled last session, but lawmakers are optimistic it will get the vote this time.
Under current Wisconsin law, women can only obtain most birth control through a prescription written by a doctor or nurse practitioner. But this week, the Wisconsin State Assembly took steps to change all that.
The Assembly approved a plan the could allow pharmacists to prescribe and distribute birth control pills and hormonal contraceptive patches. The bill still has to go to the State Senate.
“Great for patients, great for the population, great for women in general,” said Nic Smith, owner of Smith Pharmacy in Little Chute.
Smith supports the bill. He says pharmacists are under utilized in the health care system.
“We commonly make recommendations to doctors the way it is right now,” said Smith. “So we’ll make recommendations all the time to doctors, doctors will make recommendations to the office to prescribe things to us so we work together as a team, it’s really no different.”
He says being able to prescribe and give his clients birth control will provide them with expanded access to contraceptives.
“Patients are going to be able to come up, talk to us, we’ll have a questionnaire for them, find what fits their needs the best,” said Smith. “If something doesn’t work out after a month or two, they can talk to us, we can make changes and if there’s further issues then we know to refer them on to a OB or a specialist.”
This marks the first time the bill has come up since Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion law went back into effect after the overturning Roe v. Wade.
“We are recognizing the one year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs that overturned Roe versus Wade, and as a result, Wisconsin women, girls, patients and providers have been left in the lurch,” said Wisconsin’s Lt. Gov. Sarah Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, a Democrat, says passing the “Right to Contraception Act” is a step in the right direction.
“I’m proud to stand with my colleagues today in support of this effort to reaffirm once again that we will never stop fighting to ensure that women have the right to make their own decisions about their own bodies,” said Rodriguez.
“We know that half of the pregnancies in the United States are unplanned,” said Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Kitchens, says the measure is a way to prevent more unwanted pregnancies.
“Birth control is 99.9% effective if it’s used consistently and one of the biggest obstacles in that is the availability so this well help considerably with that,” said Kitchens.
According to Governor Evers’ spokesperson, the Governor supports the bill and would sign it into law should it pass the Legislature.
In addition to the pharmacist birth control bill, Republicans also introduced a measure that would create rape and incest exceptions under the state’s abortion ban.
But Governor Evers has vowed to veto anything that doesn’t return state law to how it was before Roe v. Wade was overturned.
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