CONTRACEPTIVE ACCESS
[This statement is currently under review by ARHP’s policy committee. An updated statement will be posted as soon as it is revised and approved by the ARHP board of directors.]
All individuals have the right to safe, effective, affordable, accessible, and acceptable contraception and contraceptive counseling. Contraceptives are pregnancy prevention methods effective prior to implantation. Contraception is an essential preventive health service; it reduces the number of unintended pregnancies and thus the need for abortion. ARHP supports access to accurate, comprehensive, and unbiased information and the full range of safe and reliable contraceptive options.
Because of their unique reproductive capacities, women most often bear the burdens stemming from inadequate access to contraception. All women have the right to make their own reproductive decisions.
ARHP encourages public and private organizations and government agencies to support and fund the research and development of new contraceptive technologies for both men and women, including methods that also provide protection from sexually transmitted infections. As an integral part of their education, every health care provider should learn about all contraceptive methods, how to counsel patients about and provide those methods, and how to prevent reproductive tract infections to protect future fertility.
Health care coverage should include all contraceptive options in the same way it covers other medications, services, and devices. An individual provider's religious or moral beliefs must not impair the quality of medical care available to a patient. Statutory "conscience clauses" and "refusal clauses" pertaining to health care providers, including pharmacists, must not be allowed to deny or impair the access of women or men to legal reproductive health services, procedures, and medications. Health care providers who do not provide contraception on moral or religious grounds have a professional obligation to provide their patients with a timely referral to another medical professional known to provide such services, and to inform their patients that they are being referred because of the provider's personal beliefs, not for professional, medical reasons.
Emergency contraception (EC) refers to a group of safe, effective methods that women can use to prevent unintended pregnancies and avoid the need for abortion. Emergency contraceptive methods available in the United States include emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) and the copper-T IUD. EC is the only way to prevent pregnancy after unprotected or unwanted sex. ARHP encourages education about and promotion of access to emergency contraception.
Because ECPs are safe, effective, and appropriate for over the counter use, ARHP supports the distribution of ECPs without prescription, over the counter or through pharmacists without discrimination based on age or gender. ARHP encourages health care providers to offer their female patients advance prescriptions for ECPs during routine check-ups or over the phone.
ARHP's Position Statement on Contraceptive Access was modified and recommended by ARHP's policy committee in May of 2005 and approved by ARHP's board of directors on June 4, 2005.
