Following the recent approval of over-the-counter birth control in the US, here are the European countries where you can get birth control pills without a prescription.
US authorities last week approved a contraceptive pill that is the first to be purchased without a prescription.
This comes after the country’s Supreme Court last year threw out a key court case, Roe v. Wade, a decision that resulted in numerous US states severely restricting access to abortion.
This recent advance in over-the-counter contraceptives is now expected to reduce some inequalities in access to contraception and could benefit those who have difficulty coping with the cost or logistics of obtaining a prescription from a doctor.
“Of course, it will make things easier for women who don’t have the time or financial means to go to the doctor,” Marina Davidashvili, Head of Policy and Research at the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF), told Euronews Next.
“It removes a step in women’s access. Of course, it’s important for women to have regular check-ups and visit the gynecologist to see if they have any contraindications to taking the pill. But assuming the woman has done it and knows what need, which I think most women do, will of course make it easier to access,” she added.
While the contraceptive pill is available without a prescription in many countries, such as Mexico, China and India, the hormonal contraceptive pill is only available by prescription in most European countries.
However, many European countries offer free access to prescription contraceptives and the emergency contraceptive pill without a prescription.
Where in Europe can the hormonal contraceptive pill be purchased without a prescription?
According to him Contraception Atlas According to the European Parliamentary Forum, a map ranking 46 countries in Europe based on access to modern contraception, most EU countries do not offer the contraceptive pill without a prescription.
“The reason is that this encourages women to go to the gynecologist regularly or to the GP and have a general check-up,” explains Davidashvili.
“They fear that if contraceptives are available without a prescription, [las mujeres] lose their spirits or don’t go, and then we might miss other serious conditions that this visit may reveal,” he explained.
“For this reason, many couples advocate maintaining contraception under prescription,” he added.
In France, the contraceptive pill is available to all women, even without parental consent for those over 15 years of age, but it is necessary prescription.
However, emergency contraception, also known as the morning-after pill, can be purchased without a prescription at pharmacies.
France too introduced full coverage of the cost of contraceptives for all women under 26 by 2022, expanding the initiative that previously only covered minors, with the aim of making contraceptives more accessible to those who cannot afford them.
Similarly, in the neighboring country, Germany, the hormonal contraceptive pill, either the mini-pill or the combination, can only be acquired with medical prescription.
Girls under 14 also need parental consent to be prescribed the pill.
Portugal has a similar regulation, since oral contraceptives only they can be obtained by prescription, although they remain one of the most prescribed methods of birth control.
In Italy, however, you don’t need a prescription to get hormonal contraceptives, according to the Contraception Policy Atlas. But emergency contraceptive pills No they were available over the counter until 2015, when they were reclassified and became available without a prescription for those over 18 years of age.
Recently, Italy also proposed that contraceptives were free for all women, regardless of age, a move that was widely celebrated but met with backlash from anti-abortion advocates.
In 2021, the United Kingdom put sale in pharmacies two progestin-only contraceptive pills, Hana and Lovima, without a prescription.
Other European countries where hormonal contraceptives are legally accessible over-the-counter are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Greece, Moldova, and Ukraine.
However, according to the EPF, some of these countries continue to have difficulties accessing modern, effective and affordable methods of contraception.
According to Davidashvili, the reason is that these countries do not dedicate efforts to inform and educate about contraception through clear and precise publicly funded websites and sex education initiatives.
What you need to know about the birth control pill
The research shows that oral contraceptives are one of the main forms of contraception used in Europe.
They are also used to treat medical problems such as hormonal imbalance, painful periods, polycystic ovary syndrome, and endometriosis.
The hormonal birth control pill has its side effects, from mood swings to blood clots.
According to experts, the side effects Most common during pill use are irregular bleeding, nausea, breast tenderness, and potentially some weight shift in either direction.
In some small cases, people can experience much more serious complications, such as blood clots, which can travel to the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism, or travel to the brain and cause a stroke.
Studies have also associated the birth control pill with a higher risk of certain types of cancerspecifically breast, cervix and liver.
However, some experts believe that the benefits of the pill may outweigh its side effects, especially in cases where women use it for medical conditions.
For contraception, there are alternatives to the birth control pill such as female or male condoms – which have the added benefit of preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) – and non-hormonal intrauterine devices (IUDs).
