Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Long-Acting Reversible Contraception availability has reduced unintended pregnancy in Colorado, but 300,000 women are still in need of family planning services. In 2012, ACOG announced support for over-the-counter (OTC) oral contraceptives. Since that time, multiple legislative solutions have been proposed, but have been met with opposition for unclear reasons. The purpose of this study was to clarify stakeholder opinions on making progesterone-only pills (POPs) available OTC. METHODS: Individual qualitative interviews were conducted with 60 professionals recruited from five stakeholder groups: insurance industry (IC), religious leaders (RL), healthcare professionals (HP), health organization leadership (HO), and health policy (HL). These interviews solicited participants’ perspectives about making POPs available OTC in Colorado. Descriptive content analysis organized data into categories and themes. RESULTS: Most participants felt that Colorado is ready to endorse OTC POPs, and would support its implementation. HP and HO showed the largest support, encouraging women’s autonomy in their reproductive health decisions, and noting pharmacist support for this idea. HO showed the most opposition, citing patient cost concerns. RL and IC were conflicted, citing safety, education, and legislative wording concerns. Among all groups, political opposition and cost were perceived as the largest barriers against deregulation. CONCLUSION: The consensus among Colorado’s stakeholders is that the state is ready for OTC POPs. However, there was disagreement among groups as to the barriers to achieving that goal. Our research will help groups better understand each other’s interests so that we can come to a consensus on helping women in need in the state of Colorado.
Published Version
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