A bill being discussed on Beacon Hill would ensure continued no-cost contraceptives in Massachusetts – regardless of federal changes to the health care law.
1.4 million women in Massachusetts could lose affordable contraception if the Republican-controlled Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act, according to State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier.
The Democrat represents Pittsfield, where teen birth rates are among the highest in the state.
“It’s important for people to know that the no-cost birth control is regulatory, as opposed to legislative,” Farley-Bouvier says. “So, there doesn’t need to be a vote in Congress to take this away.”
A bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harriette Chandler, of Worcester, and House Speaker Pro Tempore Patricia Haddad, of Somerset, would require pharmacies to stock the morning-after pill and offer it for free without a prescription.
