Harper Maintains Commitment to Women’s Health

CHICAGO – State Rep. Sonya Harper, D-Chicago, is sponsoring legislation that would expand women’s access to comprehensive health care by allowing pharmacists to prescribe contraceptive medicine.

“There is a great deal of uncertainty among women across the country because the president is attempting to restrict women’s health care choices,” said Harper. “Limiting and restricting access to health care can have serious consequences, which this legislation would help prevent.”

Harper is supporting House Bill 274, which would allow pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraceptives that can be taken orally or through a patch. It would help low-income women who would not have adequate time or funds to visit a doctor to still get a prescription. According to the Guttmacher Institute, an organization dedicated to promoting reproductive health rights, unintended pregnancy rates are highest among low-income women who rely on non-hormonal contraceptive measures. Harper believes that by allowing pharmacists to prescribe these services to women in need the rate of unwanted or unintended pregnancies could decrease due to the increase of access to the medication.

“Many people in my district do not have the financial resources to visit a doctor regularly,” said Harper. “By allowing pharmacists to prescribe birth control it will be more accessible to women who cannot visit a doctor to receive the prescription. This would give more women the ability to make their own healthcare decisions and could reduce the rate of unplanned pregnancies.”