Sponsors (49)
The bill improves timely access, privacy, and enforceable protections for contraception (including OTC options) and affirms reproductive autonomy, but it shifts responsibilities and costs to pharmacies, may not remove economic and geographic barriers for low‑income and marginalized people, and could trigger additional litigation over conscience and religious objections.
Women and other people who can become pregnant will more often get timely access to contraception because pharmacies must provide in-stock contraception immediately when available, promptly refer or transfer customers when out-of-stock, and are prohibited from intimidating, harassing, or breaching patients' confidentiality — with a private right of action to enforce these protections.
Many people covered by private plans retain access to FDA‑approved contraception without cost-sharing, lowering out-of-pocket costs for birth control.
Recognizing over‑the‑counter (OTC) approvals (including the 2023 OTC daily pill) and emergency contraceptives can increase timely, no‑prescription access to contraception.
Pharmacist or pharmacy refusals to fill or provide contraception in some states can leave people without timely access to birth control or emergency contraception, producing uneven access across the country.
Persistent barriers — cost, geography, language, and immigration status — mean many low‑income, rural, and immigrant people may still face out‑of‑pocket costs or lack meaningful access despite coverage rules; customers unable to pay can still be denied supply.
Asserting contraception as a protected fundamental right and banning certain religious‑freedom defenses may prompt constitutional challenges and more litigation over conscience and religious objections, potentially limiting services in some areas.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires pharmacies receiving FDA-authorized contraceptives to provide in-stock products without delay and to arrange transfers or expedited orders when out of stock, while prohibiting harassment or most refusals.
Introduced June 23, 2025 by Robin L. Kelly · Last progress June 23, 2025
Requires pharmacies that receive FDA-authorized contraceptives in interstate commerce to provide contraceptives and contraception-related medicines promptly when they are in stock, or to immediately help customers obtain them (by transferring/referring prescriptions or using expedited ordering) when not in stock. The bill also bars intimidation, harassment, deception, breaches of confidentiality, and most refusals to fill or return valid prescriptions for contraception; it preserves some narrow, standard-practice exceptions and allows stronger state protections, and it creates civil enforcement and private rights of action against violations.