Poll: 70% Favor Legalizing Over-The-Counter Birth Control

The latest
Reason-Rupe poll finds 70 percent of Americans favor
legalizing over-the-counter birth control pills and patches without
a doctor’s prescription, 26 percent oppose such a proposal, and 4
percent don’t know enough to say. There has been a slight uptick in
support for OTC birth control, rising from 66 percent in May of
2013. Moreover, Reason-Rupe finds that women across income groups
highly support legalizing OTC birth control at about the same
rates.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
have announced
their support for such a proposal arguing it could improve
contraceptive access and use and decrease unintended pregnancy
rates. Republicans too have been pushing for this reform, with
Democrats surprisingly reluctant.

Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal raised
the idea in 2012 in his widely read Wall Street
Journal op-ed:

“As an unapologetic pro-life Republican, I also believe that
every adult (18 years old and over) 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. And parents who believe, as I do, that
their teenage children shouldn’t be involved with sex at all do not
deserve ridicule.”

Planned Parenthood and some Democrats have pushed back,
expressing concerns that legalizing OTC birth control would
require women to pay for it, rather than have it paid for by
their health insurance premiums. For instance, Rebecca Leber
explained:

“For low-income women, cost can be what’s most prohibitive.
Under the Affordable Care Act, the pill and other forms of
contraception count as preventative care, which means insurance
covers them completely—without any out-of-pocket expenses.”

Planned Parenthood recently released an ad in North
Carolina warning:
“Just when insurance is finally covering the cost of prescription
birth control, Thom Tillis [the Republican] says no—women should
pay the $600 dollars a year…he’s turning the pill into yet another
bill.” To be clear, Democrats are not necessarily opposed to
legalizing OTC birth control, but rather they want to ensure women
don’t have to pay for it.

Reason’s own Elizabeth Brown has countered:

“Affordability isn’t the only factor in making something
accessible. Those championing the contraception mandate as a way to
increase access assume everyone always has insurance coverage. What
about undocumented women? Or those between jobs and temporarily
uninsured? What about young women who can’t let their parents know
they’re on the pill? Or domestic abuse victims who want to keep
this information from their husbands? These are just a few of the
situations in which a woman would find OTC pills much more
accessible and affordable than the prescription-only kind, even if
those prescription pills came with no co-pay.”

Despite costs concerns, OTC birth control legalization receives
strong support from women across income groups at roughly the same
rates. Among women making less than $30,000 a year, 65 percent
support legalization and 35 percent oppose. In the middle, women
making between $30K-$60K a year support the proposal 70 to 29
percent. And again, among women making more than $60,000 a year, 67
percent support and 32 percent oppose legalizing OTC birth
control.

Men too support legalization, 71 percent to 21 percent, similar
to women, 68 to 30 percent.

In addition, support for legalization is high across race and
ethnicity. Seventy-two percent of Caucasians, 73 percent of
African-Americans, and 61 percent of Hispanics say OTC birth
control should be legal.

Legalization has bi-partisan support as well. In fact,
Republicans and Democrats support it at roughly the same level (65%
and 69% respectively) with Independents even more in favor
(74%).

Elite debate over the issue has trickled down to some degree,
with libertarians (75%) and conservatives (71%) more in favor than
liberals (64%) and communitarians (62%). (Political groups
identified using the Reason-Rupe
three-question screen).

Despite concerns over the cost of OTC birth control, strong
majorities across income groups favor the proposal. For instance,
64 percent of Americans making less than $30,000 annually support
legalization as do 69 percent of those making more than
$100,000.

The Reason-Rupe national telephone poll, executed
by Princeton Survey Research Associates International,
conducted live interviews with 1004 adults on cell phones (503) and
landlines (501) October 1-6, 2014. The poll’s margin of error
is +/-3.8%. Full poll results can be found here including
poll toplines (pdf) 
and crosstabs (xls).