Pharmacies in California fail to facilitate birth control measures for women despite law: study

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Most pharmacies in California on the U.S. West Coast have failed to follow legal advisories to provide necessary birth control services to women, a Stanford University study said Thursday.

California is one of four U.S. states that allows trained pharmacists to prescribe and dispense birth control pills, patches, injections and contraceptive rings to women. The other three states are Oregon, Colorado and New Mexico.

A law passed in April 2016 in California allows women and girls to drop by their neighborhood pharmacies and pick up birth control pills without a doctor's prescription. The measure is intended to increase access to birth control and reduce unintended pregnancies.

The Stanford study found that only 11 percent of the 5,000 community-based pharmacies surveyed provide necessary birth control services.

However, these pharmacies charge a service fee between 40 and 45 U.S. dollars, which often keeps women from low-income groups and rural areas from voluntarily seeking contraceptive help from them.

"Even when contraception is available in pharmacies, it may not be economically accessible because of fees," the study said.

Many pharmacies are not enthusiastic about offering birth control services as such services will not be reimbursed by the Medicaid program until 2021. Enditem