Get birth control with an app? California Gov. Gavin Newsom will soon decide
It could soon be legal to access birth control through a smartphone app.
California lawmakers have sent a bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom that “clarifies vague telehealth law related to safely prescribing prescriptions,” according to the office of bill sponsor Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Laguna Beach.
“Birth control allows people to choose if and when to start a family and historically has afforded women more economic freedom,” Petrie-Norris said in prepared remarks. “It is paramount that women have access to the resources necessary to carefully plan a family as they see fit.”
The bill clarifies that doctors may prescribe birth control “via asynchronous patient interaction,” such as through an app, according to Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, a co-sponsor of the bill.
“We know, from medical experts and existing law that a video requirement is medically unnecessary and causes an arbitrary barrier to receiving care and providing care through telemedicine,” Planned Parenthood said in a statement supporting the bill.
This story was originally published September 12, 2019 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Get birth control with an app? California Gov. Gavin Newsom will soon decide."
