Pill dispensers

It all depends on the Ledge

For a state — or at least a state legislature — that wants to be known as the most anti-abortion assembly in the nation, if not beyond, our betters have decided not to make it easier to get birth control pills in recent years. For example, two years ago, an attempt to allow pharmacists to dispense The Pill without prescriptions died after debate in the Ledge. The reason? Because some lawmakers said it would lead to promiscuity.

No, what it would lead to is fewer unwanted pregnancies. And, common sense tells most of us, fewer abortions.

This time around, House Bill 1069 by Aaron Pilkington (R-Clarksville) passed 88-2 in the House. The idea is to allow pharmacists to dispense up to six months of birth-control pills before a woman has to visit a doctor. That’s according to a story this week by our Capitol reporters, specifically John Moritz.

The goal is so obvious that one wonders why this wasn’t passed by the 1980 General Assembly. Or the 1970 one. “We want to expand access to oral contraceptives in rural areas and reduce the teen pregnancy rate in Arkansas,” Rep. Pilkington said. “What we’ve also found, too, is when we enact policies like this, we also reduce the number of abortions in those states.”

That statement might perk up some ears in 2021’s General Assembly. It has already passed an anti-abortion bill that doesn’t even allow for exceptions in the cases of rape or incest. What would be today’s argument against access to The Pill? The only ones we can think of — promiscuity? really? — are unbelievably weak. As in it’s difficult to believe they are still being made. Archives from 2019 show that some people made the argument that birth control pills could cause the death of an unborn child. But the point of all such pills is to prevent pregnancies in the first place, and we can’t see how birth-control pills that come with a doctor’s note are any different in any regard than birth-control pills that come any other way.

The arguments for HB1069, however, aren’t unbelievably weak. Have you waited in a doctor’s office lobby lately? It takes time to get a sit-down with a doctor. It can be difficult for new people to the state to find a doctor taking new patients. For those without the means, co-pays can be a financial hassle. And for those in the rural areas, a woman might have to drive a half-hour or more to get to the nearest doctor’s office.

A good way — actually a sure way — to lower the number of abortions is to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place. (You’ll notice our command of biology.) And increasing the access to contraception does both.

House Bill 1069 sounds like common sense legislation. Whether common sense is common, however, is another question altogether.