Access to birth control widens as Colorado pharmacists prepare to prescribe oral contraceptives

Colorado pharmacists soon can begin prescribing oral contraceptives under a new protocol that will provide unprecedented access to birth control in this state.

Women who are at least 18 can complete a questionnaire, blood-pressure check and a 10- to 15-minute consultation with a pharmacist, then walk out with birth-control pills or patches, under new rules set in motion by a 2016 state law with bipartisan support. Colorado is just the third state with such access, joining Oregon and California.

The law, passed last year, allowed the boards of medicine, nursing and pharmacy, along with the state health department, to create protocols for pharmacists to provide services that tackle public health needs. At the top of the list, based on a survey of medical professionals, was hormonal contraception.

Pharmacies throughout the state are preparing to offer the service as soon as April, and those on or near college campuses are anticipating its popularity among young women.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2017/02/27/access-to-birth-control-colorado-oral-contraceptives/