Emergency contraception in a historic southern city: Mystery caller study in Birmingham, Alabama.

BACKGROUND: Alabama's Human Life Protection Act (the Act) signed in 2019 became law in 2022, making provision of abortion a felony offense. OBJECTIVE: In 2020, we assessed the accessibility of emergency contraception (EC) pills in Birmingham, Alabama prior to the Act's enactment given the probable increased need for EC access due to abortion criminalization. STUDY DESIGN: Pharmacy staff were asked about availability, price, location, and identification requirements to obtain EC. RESULTS: Of 69 pharmacies, 59% had levonorgestrel EC and none had ulipristal acetate EC available. CONCLUSION: There are persistent barriers to EC accessibility that should be addressed as abortion is increasingly restricted.

Barriers to Single-Dose Levonorgestrel-Only Emergency Contraception Access in Retail Pharmacies.

OBJECTIVES: In February 2014, the Food and Drug Administration updated its regulations to make all single-dose levonorgestrel-only emergency contraception (LNG-EC) available over the counter. This study examines the availability and access to LNG-EC shortly after this policy change, and any additional barriers to obtaining LNG-EC in Colorado retail pharmacies. STUDY DESIGN: From June to July 2014, three female interviewers posing as women seeking LNG-EC conducted a telephone survey of all 633 Colorado retail pharmacies listed in The Little Blue Book (2014) phone directory. Completely accessible was defined as LNG-EC available on store shelves for purchase without presentation of an ID or prescription on the day of the call. RESULTS: Of 633 pharmacies analyzed, 85.0% (538/633) were in urban settings and 85.3% (540/633) were chain stores. Eighteen of 64 (28.1%) counties in Colorado did not have a pharmacy listed in the phone directory. Overall, 86.9% of pharmacies (550/633) had EC in stock on the day of contact but only 23.2% (147/633) of these had EC completely accessible. Of pharmacies with EC in stock, 41.6% (229/550) kept it behind the counter and 56.0% (308/550) required additional documentation to purchase. In stock and completely accessible rates were not different across rural, urban, and frontier geographic regions within the state (p = .066 and p = .905, respectively), but were significantly different across independent, chain, and 24-hour type stores (p < .001 and p = .008, respectively). In stock rates were 57.5% (42/73), 90.4% (488/540), and 100% (20/20) for independent, chain, and 24-hour stores respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Rates of completely accessible LNG-EC are low in Colorado despite high rates of availability. Behind-the-counter status and proof-of-age requirements are identified as the main sources of access restriction in Colorado.