Michigan pharmacists now will be able to prescribe birth control

Soon, getting hormonal birth control in Michigan may be as simple as stopping in at your neighborhood pharmacy.

That’s because the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs on Monday issued a new interpretation of the Michigan Public Health Code that opens up the ability of doctors to partner with pharmacists to directly dispense hormonal birth control.

“Today’s action clarifies that Michigan pharmacists with delegated authority can prescribe self-administered hormonal birth control — oral contraceptives, the patch, and the ring — expanding access to birth control for women across Michigan and ensuring that they can plan their own future on their own terms,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement.

20 other states allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control

As many as a third of U.S. women have reported barriers to accessing prescription contraception, according to a study published in the Journal of Women’s Health.

With this change, Michigan joins 20 other U.S. states and the District of Columbia with statutes or rules that allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control, according to the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations. 

Pharmacists in Michigan will be able to opt into the program, and LARA is to provide a template agreement to make the delegation process easier.

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However, LARA’s interpretive statement does not require pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraception if they are unwilling.

The change comes at a time when access to reproductive health care is in the spotlight. The U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization left abortion access up to states to decide.

In anticipation that the Dobbs ruling would overturn Roe v. Wade, Whitmer issued an executive directive in May, instructing state agencies to review the aspects of reproductive health care that fall within their purview and identify ways to boost access and protections for those seeking care while protecting patient privacy and the safety of health care providers.

As a result of that review, LARA issued the new interpretation Monday that now will allow pharmacists to prescribe hormonal birth control.  

In Michigan, whether abortion will remain legal remains uncertain. Voters will get the chance to weigh in on the issue in the Nov. 8 election.

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A proposal to amend the state constitution will appear on the ballot as Proposal 22-3. If approved, it would secure the right to abortion up to the point of fetal viability and potentially beyond if medically needed to protect a patient's life, physical or mental health.

It also would give protection from prosecution the people who choose abortion and their medical providers.

In addition, two abortion rights legal cases — one filed by Planned Parenthood of Michigan and another by Whitmer challenging a 1931 law that criminalizes most abortions in the state — have yet to be decided by the state Supreme Court.

'Broad authority' under health code opens a door

Michigan's Public Health Code offers "broad authority" that would allow doctors to delegate the role of prescribing and dispensing hormonal birth control, said Jada Fisher, Whitmer's deputy press secretary.

"An example of this includes physicians delegating authority to pharmacists to administer immunizations," she said. "As soon as a physician and pharmacist establish an agreement that indicates the delegation of prescriptive authority, pharmacists will be able to notify their clients of the availability of birth control prescriptions, and we anticipate this practice will become increasingly more common over time.

"The state stands ready to use every tool in our toolbox to ensure that process is smooth," Fisher said.

Under the LARA interpretation, only physicians with doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy degrees licensed in Michigan are eligible to be delegates. They can grant authority to prescribe birth control to pharmacists with a PharmD degree licensed in the state.

All birth control prescriptions issued by pharmacists in Michigan must include the name of the delegating doctor, and a written agreement is required that outlines the scope of the delegation authority.

Participating pharmacists must complete training about hormonal contraceptives and agree to “adequate supervision by the delegating licensee” that includes a regular review of the pharmacist's records and practice, consultations with the pharmacist and further education.

Contact Kristen Jordan Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus.Subscribe to the Free Press.