Hogg: It's past time to let Ontario pharmacists prescribe contraception

Certain groups in our society face extra barriers to accessing contraception, and allowing pharmacists to prescribe birth control can help address them.

Published Mar 08, 2024 • Last updated 5 hours ago • 2 minute read

Ontario pharmacists are able to provide prescriptions for minor health conditions. But they don’t yet have the green light to prescribe contraceptives, though most other provinces allow this. Photo by Tijana Martin /The Canadian Press

Across the province, there is a shortage of family doctors. As of January, 2.3 million Ontarians did not have access to a family physician, a number that is predicted to increase to 4.4 million by 2026. The shortage has resulted in pharmacists taking on more responsibility for many direct prescriptions to people. This new role should include prescriptions for contraceptives.

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This is not a new idea. In fact, Ontario lags behind the rest of the country: all of the other provinces, except Manitoba, have already given pharmacists the ability to prescribe contraception. As well, nurses and midwives in Ontario will soon be able to prescribe birth control.

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Last September, The Ontario College of Pharmacists’ board recommended that pharmacists be able to prescribe birth control and emergency contraception. However, this cannot be implemented until public consultations are completed — and there is no set date for that.

Certain groups in our society face additional barriers to accessing contraception, and allowing pharmacists to prescribe contraception can help alleviate some of these barriers. Often, students who move to another city for their postsecondary education no longer have access to their family doctor. As well, Northern Ontario currently has a shortage of more than 100 family doctors. All of this can make accessing a contraception prescription very challenging. Pharmacists could assist in fulfilling contraception prescriptions if given the ability.

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The family doctor shortage has also disproportionately impacted rural, Indigenous communities, who also experience systemic racism within the health-care system. Despite advances to help improve access to health care for Indigenous communities, racist and anti-Indigenous beliefs and attitudes have persisted (such attitudes at one time included thousands of Indigenous women being coerced into sterilization procedures). The history and current inequities faced by Indigenous peoples in regard to health care must be taken into consideration when deciding on new policies.

Making contraception more accessible through pharmacists can expand the choices people have about their reproductive health.

From a public health perspective, there are many advantages to expanding access to contraception. One of these is reducing unwanted pregnancies, which can have both physical and mental-health impacts for the pregnant person. Contraception is also used to treat health conditions impacting millions of people in Canada, including fibroids, endometriosis and abnormal uterine bleeding. Contraception allows individuals to make choices to protect their health.

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While there are many gaps in accessing reproductive health services in Ontario, expanding pharmacists’ prescribing powers to include contraception is in everyone’s best interests. It benefits Ontarians’ right to accessible health care; it supports public health interests; and it makes financial sense, as the cost of unintended pregnancies in Canada is more than $320 million. The public must support this proposal during the public consultations.

The Ontario government, meanwhile, must listen to experts and the public and expand pharmacists’ prescription powers to include contraception.

Madison Hogg writes on behalf of The LEAF Ottawa chapter, comprised of University of Ottawa Law students. The Reproductive Justice Project Team undertook research as part of LEAF National’s Reproductive Justice Initiative. In addition to Madison Hogg, its members are: Megan Jenkinson, Amber Keegan, Natalie Tabet, Silvia Rodrigues, Natasha Gosselin, Jackie Gerson, Angie Ortiz, and Carolina Maass.

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