Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal feels that birth control pills should be available over-the-counter just like the morning after pill. Jindal feels that allowing such easy access for would foster competition among manufacturers and decrease the cost of the family planning medication.
Jindal also notes that making birth control available without a prescription would remove the matter from the political arena, according to the Huffington Post . The possible Republican presidential contender had this to say about removing the need to visit a doctor and seeking birth control:
“As a conservative Republican, I believe that we have been stupid to let the Democrats demagogue the contraceptives issue and pretend, during debates about health-care insurance, that Republicans are somehow against birth control. It’s a disingenuous political argument they make. As an unapologetic pro-life Republican, I also believe that every adult who wants contraception should be able to purchase it. But anyone who has a religious objection to contraception should not be forced by government health-care edicts to purchase it for others.”
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists appears to agree with Bobby Jindal’s point of view. In a recently released report, the group noted that birth control is safe enough that it should not require a prescription.
To support his statement, Jindal points to the actions by the Obama administration and the pro-choice lobby that fought to make the morning after bill available over-the-counter. If emergency contraception is safe enough to be sold without a visit to a doctor, then preemptive measures should be given the same consideration.
Governor Bobby Jindal also had this so say about the GOP views on a woman’s right to obtain birth control:
“Democrats have wrongly accused Republicans of being against birth control and against allowing people to use it. That’s hogwash. But Republicans do want to protect those who have religious beliefs that are opposed to contraception.”