Increase access to contraceptives to reduce unwanted pregnancies | Opinion

It’s not yet official, but there are multiple reasons — from questions posed by justices during last year’s oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health to the recently leaked draft majority opinion in that case— to believe the Supreme Court of the United States is poised to reverse Roe v. Wade sometime this summer; if it does, issues pertaining to abortion will once again revert to state legislatures. Here in South Carolina, the battle lines are already being drawn.

If Roe is reversed, that’s a debate that must and will occur next year in the South Carolina General Assembly, and as the state senator for Beaufort and Jasper counties, I will be a part of it. And if past is prelude, that debate will be emotional and divisive, as debates always are when competing rights clash — in this case, the right of women to sovereignty over their bodies vs. the right of the unborn child to be born.

Even as that battle over access to abortion looms, though, lawmakers on both sides of the abortion debate can and should work together on two ancillary issues: to help prevent unwanted pregnancies and to provide emotional and financial support to mothers throughout the pregnancy and after the babies are born. As to that second issue, and as a Republican, I am sensitive to the charge that my party’s pro-life advocacy ends with a child’s birth. That ought not be, and I will be looking for ways to ensure that it isn’t.

As to the first ancillary issue, however, I am happy to report that state lawmakers on the left and the right and all point in between worked together earlier this month to pass, and Gov. Henry McMaster recently signed, the Pharmacy Access Act, a bill I authored which allows pharmacists to dispense birth control pills and other hormonal contraceptives to women without a doctor’s prescription.

Contraception is widely used in the United States. More than 99 percent of women aged 15-44 who have ever had sexual intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method, and approximately 60 percent of all women of reproductive age are currently using a contraceptive method. Hormonal methods — such as the pill, the patch, the ring, or injectables — are the most common methods used in the United States.

But while the use of contraceptives is widespread, there are still barriers to consistent and effective usage. About 50 percent of pregnancies in South Carolina are unintended, and about 95 percent of unintended pregnancies occur in women who do not use contraception or who use it inconsistently or incorrectly. Barriers to consistent and effective contraceptive usage are especially high for women who do not have a regular health care provider or health insurance.

Having the ability to plan if, when, and under what circumstances to have a child is fundamental to living a healthy and empowered life. Contraception gives people the ability to prevent or delay pregnancies until they are ready to become parents, and is positively correlated with increased educational attainment, workforce participation, and lifetime earnings.

The Pharmacy Access Act helps overcome many of these barriers. By authorizing pharmacists to dispense contraceptives, we eliminate the need for a separate visit to a health care provider to obtain a prescription. Pharmacies are often more accessible and affordable than doctors’ offices, and pharmacist dispensing of contraceptives has been proven to be safe and effective. That’s why my bill was supported by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association.

For decades, lawmakers have declared a desire to decrease the number of abortions in South Carolina, and they have focused almost exclusively on reducing access to the procedure. But this approach is myopic, or at a minimum insufficient. We must also focus on how to reduce the need for anyone to consider abortion in the first place — about what we can do to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. And with the Pharmacy Access Act, the legislature did exactly that. Here’s hoping that this bipartisan effort sets the stage for the broader abortion debate next year.

Tom Davis represents Beaufort and Jasper counties in the South Carolina Senate.