Northwest Wayne News

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) recently revealed an initiative that will make it easier for women to obtain birth control.

Pharmacists are now able to prescribe hormonal birth control in partnership with doctors, according to a press release from the governor's office. This action from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) gives women easier access to birth control. It also offers women the freedom to decide whether or not to have children.

"Today's action clarifies that Michigan pharmacists with delegated authority can prescribe self-administered hormonal birth control — oral contraceptives, the patch, and the ring — expanding access to birth control for women across Michigan and ensuring that they can plan their own future on their own terms," Whitmer said in the press release. "As reproductive freedom is under attack across the nation, we are using every tool in our toolbox here in Michigan to protect women.

"Access to birth control is critical to a woman's ability to plan her family and chart her own destiny. We are taking action to guarantee that Michigan women have the right to easily make reproductive health care decisions that are best for them."

Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive for the state of Michigan, spoke about the issue as well.

"This expansion allows for broader access to certain forms of birth control," she said in the press release. "Nearly 30% of U.S. women of childbearing age have reported difficulty obtaining or refilling birth control prescriptions. Expanded access to hormonal contraceptives provides flexibility for women to manage their reproductive health outside their regularly scheduled health care appointments."

The action follows Whitmer's executive directive in May that called for state agencies to "increase protections for reproductive health care, such as contraception" after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the press release noted. Through the LARA directive, licensed physicians can assign pharmacists to prescribe self-administered hormonal contraceptives in most cases.

Birth control can be obtained in the form of oral contraceptives, patches, and rings, according to the press release. Pharmacists can educate patients on how prescribed birth control impacts and affects the human body.