For others, safety concerns had long kept them away from hormonal birth control options, and, they said, over-the-counter availability wouldn’t change their minds. “I have never used it in my life — I’m 51 years old,” said Lisa Verlin, a babysitter in Manhattan. “I am not comfortable using that because of all the side effects.” (According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most common side effect of the Opill is unscheduled bleeding. While the pill is not associated with many serious long-term risks, it’s not recommended for those who have had breast cancer or severe liver disease.)
The idea that there were no age restrictions gave some women pause. For June Jean, 55, the thought was so disturbing that she shook her head vehemently. “No good, no,” she said. “I’m an old-fashioned girl but I don’t think girls — 13, 14 years old — should be able to go and just get pills.”
“So you could go pick it up if you’re, like, 12?” said Melina Luna Smith, 43, who runs a nonprofit organization. “So much is happening to your body when you’re young, so I think it’s important to have somebody speaking to that — some medical guidance.”
She said she would be “too chicken” to use it without having more information. What women need, she added, is better access to doctors, not just easy access to contraceptives.
For people with access to health care, an over-the-counter pill, which is as effective as prescribed pills, was seen as a convenient fallback option. Dana Pangori, who is 24 and works in advertising sales, said her primary care doctor was often so busy it could be hard to get a pill prescription refilled. “I’ve actually been off of it because I have a hard time reaching her,” Ms. Pangori said. Before moving to New York, she lived briefly in Michigan and Illinois, and she said that each time she moved it was burdensome to find a local doctor to refill her prescription.
An unresolved concern for many of the women interviewed was how much Opill would cost. Perrigo Company, the pill’s manufacturer, hasn’t said what it will charge for each pack of 28 pills, though the company’s chief executive said in a statement that Perrigo was committed to keeping it “affordable.” While most women who spoke to The Times suggested that they would pay between $20 and $30 for a pack, the KFF survey found that only one in six of those most likely to use the pill would be willing or able to pay more than $20 per month. That pricing would place it in range with other over-the-counter options: A pack of 12 condoms, for example, is often around $10, while the emergency contraceptive pill Plan B costs about $50.
The availability of the pill in stores represents a broad shift in attitudes toward hormonal birth control pills, said Claudia Goldin, an economics professor at Harvard University who studied how the introduction of the first oral birth control pill in the 1960s altered women’s career and marriage decisions.
“Many of us remember a time when you had to go up to the desk and ask the pharmacist for a condom,” she said. Now the pill is “just going to be sitting there on the shelf and you can just pick it up like you buy your Advil — no shame. That’s huge.”
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