Pharmacies slow to sign up for no-prescription birth control

(Photo by Meghan McIntyre)

Nearly two months after Gov. Phil Murphy announced newly adopted rules that allow pharmacies to dispense hormonal birth control without a prescription, only about four dozen pharmacies statewide have been approved to do so, state data shows.

Forty-four pharmacies were approved to participate in the initiative as of June 24, according to a list on the state’s website. Essex, Middlesex, Passaic, and Warren counties each have just one qualified pharmacy. In Monmouth County, two pharmacies are approved, and in Hudson County, there are three, all in Jersey City.

Bergen County, which is the state’s most populated county, with 960,000 residents, has five pharmacies participating.

The rules have been in place since late May , nearly 18 months after Murphy signed a bill into law that removed the prescription requirement for self-administered, hormonal contraceptives. At the time, Murphy said the law marked “an important step forward in our efforts to expand access to reproductive health care.”

Lawmakers and advocates wonder whether the law is working as intended, with a fraction of the state’s roughly 2,200 pharmacies participating. Assemblywoman Nancy Muñoz, a nurse, said this could signal that health care providers have concerns about the law.

“Broadly, we as a Legislature pass these bills, and it sounds great. It’s about reproductive rights, everybody gets a headline, and then the professionals push back,” said Muñoz (R-Union). “Clearly, if they thought it was a great idea, they’d be signing up.”

Muñoz, who voted in favor of the bill, said pharmacists may feel providing birth control without a prescription is outside of their scope of practice and may prefer getting input from a gynecologist or other physician.

“I don’t know if that’s the answer to why they’re not doing it, but I think it speaks to the fact that the Legislature, they push through legislation that has good sound bites, but perhaps not good policy and has some concern,” she said.

Pharmacists are not required to participate in the initiative, but if they do so, they must complete a four-hour training program on patient screening, the selection of a self-administered hormonal contraceptive, and patient counseling, according to Lisa Coryell, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office, which oversees the initiative.

Coryell said pharmacists were notified in April that the rules would soon take effect and were directed to training resources and other requirements. In an effort to reach more pharmacies, the office’s consumer affairs division created a page on the Board of Pharmacy’s website devoted to educating licensees and the public. Similar resources are also available at pharmacies throughout the state, she said.

“We are pleased with the progress thus far and will continue working with pharmacies to increase participation. We have received outreach from pharmacies that are preparing to offer this service and anticipate the number of participating pharmacies will continue to rise as coverage for pharmacist education and consultation related to furnishing hormonal contraceptives becomes available,” she said.

New Jersey is one of 28 states, along with the District of Columbia, that allow for pharmacist-prescribed contraceptives, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Most of the participating pharmacies in New Jersey are located at Acmes or Sav-Ons. Four pharmacies are independent.

A spokeswoman for Walgreens said the company is still determining next steps, but offers Opill, an over-the-counter birth control pill, in its stores nationwide.

Anjali Mehrotra is the founder of Equality, Period, an advocacy organization focused on menstrual equity . Mehrotra said implementation of a state program like this can be a long and arduous process, but she noted the law is intended to remove barriers, particularly students and young women, to obtain medication.

“More pharmacists need to take advantage of this law and provide this as a service,” she said.

Birth control is not only used as a contraceptive, she stressed. Many women use it to manage conditions ranging from severe cramps to endometriosis, or to maintain regularity.

Kaitlyn Wojtowicz of Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey said she’s hopeful more pharmacies will participate as the process is ongoing. People deserve “access to timely, affordable reproductive health care, including birth control,” she said in a statement.

Several Democratic lawmakers declined to comment. The governor’s office deferred questions to the state’s consumer affairs division.

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, New Jersey officials have taken numerous steps to bolster reproductive rights and continue to do so. Recently, Democrats introduced a package of bills aimed at women’s health that they say they want to begin advancing in the fall, including one measure that would protect the privacy of people using period tracking apps by requiring consent for disclosure.

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