Attorney General Bonta: FDA Panel Recommendation on Nation’s First OTC Birth Control Pill is Excellent News

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued the following statement, welcoming a unanimous recommendation by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel to approve the over-the-counter (OTC) sale of a birth control pill:

“Today’s recommendation by the FDA panel is excellent news,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Better access to birth control will empower communities, especially people of color, people from low-income families, and those living in rural areas. Increased access to birth control would enable millions of Americans to take charge of their health, their lives, and their futures more easily. The California Department of Justice fights to expand access to equitable and affordable reproductive care for all and looks forward to an FDA approval of the nation’s first over-the-counter birth control pill.”

Today’s panel recommendation is an encouraging step forward in the FDA’s ongoing review of an application to approve the birth control pill, named Opill, for OTC use. If approved, people in need of birth control would be able to, for the first time ever, walk into a pharmacy and buy it without a prescription. A final FDA decision is expected this summer.

In November 2022, Attorney General Bonta led a coalition of 21 attorneys general in urging the FDA to approve OTC birth control pills that meet applicable safety and efficacy standards, including the pending application for Opill.

For more on Californians’ reproductive rights and Attorney General Bonta’s continuing efforts to expand and reproductive freedom, visit https://oag.ca.gov/reprorights.