{"id":293810,"date":"2023-06-28T12:40:31","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T17:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=293810"},"modified":"2023-06-27T16:33:29","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T21:33:29","slug":"biden-executive-order-over-counter-contraceptives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/biden-executive-order-over-counter-contraceptives\/","title":{"rendered":"New Biden executive order expands access to over-the-counter contraceptives"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Biden signed an executive order<\/a> last Friday, directing the Secretaries of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (HHS) to consider expanding access to over-the-counter contraceptives approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including those that may function as abortifacients.<\/p>\n

According to the Catholic News Agency<\/a>, the order will increase access to over-the-counter contraception and reduce the cost of that contraception. It also instructs the agencies to consider guidelines that would force private health insurance companies to cover all FDA-approved contraceptions without cost sharing.<\/p>\n

Advisers to the FDA voted<\/a> unanimously in May to grant over-the-counter status to a birth control pill called Opill<\/a>, though official approval from the FDA has not yet been handed down. Opill prevents ovulation in only about half<\/strong> of the cycles of those who take it. When ovulation does occur, Opill works in other ways as well, including by altering the endometrium<\/em>, which prevents a newly created embryo from implanting, thereby aborting the embryo<\/em>.<\/p>\n