Lawmakers OK Sales of ‘Morning-After’ Pills

Women may obtain “morning-after” contraceptive pills without a prescription from their doctors under a bill passed late Wednesday by the California Legislature.

Supporters expect Gov. Gray Davis to sign the legislation, which would make California the second state to permit pharmacists to dispense the prescription medication to women who haven’t first seen a doctor. Washington was the first state to do so.

The Senate passed by a 23-8 vote an amended version of the legislation, which requires accredited training for pharmacists who provide the pills. The vote split along ideological lines, with conservative Republicans opposing it.

The bill’s passage is a victory for family planning advocates, who have been lobbying for similar laws in other states. “This will have a significant impact in preventing unwanted pregnancies,” said Jane Boggess, an Oakland public health activist.

The legislation, SB 1169, written by Sen. Dede Alpert (D-Coronado), has broad support in the medical community and is endorsed by organizations representing the state’s doctors, nurses and pharmacists.

Opposing it is the California Right to Life Committee, which considers the pills a form of abortion.

“We’re very concerned that girls can get these pills without their parents being there or knowing about it,” said Camille Giglio, director of the state Right to Life organization. Concerns about parental notification led the Virginia Legislature to defeat a similar bill earlier this year.

The pills can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of intercourse. They can prevent ovulation and fertilization or prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the womb.

Family planning activists have argued that the need for women to first obtain a prescription slows a time-sensitive process.

The legislation requires pharmacists to counsel women about contraceptive use and permits them to charge a fee for the service. It is modeled on a pilot program launched by Boggess and other public health activists earlier this year. That program allows women who are patients of specific clinics to obtain the pills from about 60 community pharmacies throughout the state. The clinics have standing medical orders that allow the pharmacies to dispense the pills.

Boggess said the number of women who have participated in the program is “in the hundreds,” but the exact figure isn’t known.

The training program for pharmacists required by the bill would be overseen by the state Board of Pharmacy and would include sensitivity training to help pharmacists talk to women about an intimate subject.

Boggess estimated that 750 pharmacists would receive the training next year, representing a small number of the 10,000 to 12,000 pharmacists who work in retail drugstores. She said the efforts probably would be focused in 11 counties, including Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

“We think the willingness is going to be there,” she said. The problem, she said, is the time and cost involved in conducting a program available to every pharmacist in the state.

Executives at the two companies that market the pills--Women’s Capital Corp. and Gynetics--praised the legislation, which is expected to spur sales of the medication. Sales figures for the pills aren’t available, but companies acknowledge that many drugstores in California and throughout the nation do not stock them.