Prescription-free contraceptives still months away from New Jersey pharmacies

Anyone hoping to take advantage of a new state law that enables people to get contraceptives from a pharmacy without a prescription will have to wait until at least the summer — or maybe much longer.

Gov. Phil Murphy signed the measure in January 2023, and the law was set to take effect last May.

But government can move at a glacial pace. In October, Murphy and other officials attributed delays to rule-making by several state boards and said to expect prescription-free contraceptives to be available in early 2024.

Instead, the Attorney General’s Office — the entity in charge of state boards and licensing — says the soonest they’ll be available is June. But don’t bet on that either, as an alphabet soup of entities still needs to sign off on final rules.

“The precise time frame is subject to change, however, since the final rules cannot be published until multiple entities — including the joint BME-BOP committee that developed the rule proposal; committees of both the BME and BOP; and the full BME and BOP, each of which meets once a month — have deliberated over and approved the adoption notice,” said Lisa Coryell, an office spokeswoman.

The BME is the state Board of Medical Examiners, and the BOP is the Board of Pharmacy.

Pharmacists also must complete a state-approved training program to provide contraceptives under a standing order to be issued by the Department of Health, Coryell added. Participation is optional, and Coryell didn’t have numbers on how many pharmacies plan to participate since the final rules aren’t yet in place.

“The proposed rules were drafted with the goal of encouraging broad-based participation, and we are hopeful that the rules will increase access to contraception across the state once they are put into practice,” she said.

Bill sponsor Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The delay comes as New York’s pharmacies got the green light to begin providing prescription-free contraceptives. New York has moved faster than New Jersey, with Gov. Kathy Hochul signing their law last May and the standing order enabling New York pharmacies to act last week. Both states are behind on the issue, with two dozen other states already providing birth control without a prescription.

It also comes as abortions rise in New Jersey.

In June 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion nationally, about 4,620 women got abortions that month in New Jersey, according to the Society of Family Planning’s WeCount report. Since then, abortions have approached 6,000 a month here, with 5,790 in August and 4,940 in September, the most recent months reported.

The delay isn’t unusual. Officials in December 2021 eliminated a state requirement that only physicians licensed to practice medicine and surgery in New Jersey could perform abortions, a move meant to enable midwives to perform early aspiration abortions. But the final rule on that remains under administrative review, with an adoption notice expected to be published “in the coming months,” Coryell said.