Media Kit
The Pill: Over-the-Counter Access
QUICK FACTS | Affordability | Public opinion on the pill OTC | MEDIA COVERAGE | PRESS RELEASES | CAI SPOKESPEOPLE | OTHER EXPERTS | PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES
If you are looking for additional information or to speak with someone, please contact Loretta Kane at loretta@caminopr.com.
Opill is on store shelves in march 2024!
The first birth control pill to be sold over the counter will be on store shelves in March 2024!
See CAI’s press release here.
Watch a short video explainer about Opill here:
Quick Facts
To learn more about the pill OTC, watch CAI’s short video explainers:
- The mini-pill’s new over-the-counter status will make it easier for people to physically and logistically access birth control in their communities
- About half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended. Modeling suggests that removing prescription and financial barriers to the pill could reduce unintended pregnancy by up to 25%.
- Eighty percent of the global population already has access to the pill over the counter
- A second type of birth control pill — the commonly used COC — is expected to be on store shelves within a few years.
Recent Media Coverage
“Democratic lawmakers call for insurance plans to fully cover over-the-counter birth control pill,” CNN, October 30, 2023
“A roadmap for making over-the-counter birth control affordable,” STAT, August 23, 2023
“A Birth Control Pill May Soon Be Available Over the Counter. Here’s What to Know,” New York Times, May 10, 2023
Press Releases
March 20, 2024: CAI applauds governors’ efforts to make birth control accessible and affordable
March 18, 2024: As birth control pill hits retail shelves, experts educate public
March 4, 2024: Experts applaud over-the-counter birth control pill availability
December 4, 2023: Momentum builds for affordable over-the-counter birth control
July 13, 2023: Monumental breakthrough: FDA approves first birth control pill for over-the-counter status
CAI Spokespeople
Image credit: Bonnie Sen Photography
Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley
Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley, M.D., M.P.H., FACOG, chief medical advisor at CAI, is a highly respected media expert in reproductive and sexual health, a practicing OB-GYN and a public health leader. She is the CEO of Power to Decide, which works to ensure that all people have the power to decide if, when and under what circumstances to get pregnant and have a child and is the home to Bedsider, the nation’s go-to resource on birth control.
Dr. McDonald-Mosley previously served as chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She is a fellow of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She is a steering committee member of the Oral Contraceptives Over-the-Counter Working Group.
Dr. McDonald-Mosley in the news:
“Birth control pills aren’t available over the counter in U.S. That could change.,” Washington Post, May 4, 2023
“American women still can’t get birth control pills without a prescription. This company has been trying for nine years,” Fortune, February 10, 2023
“The Next FDA Commissioner Must Address Health Disparities and Barrier to Care,” The Hill, October 24, 2021
“The case for giving birth control pills over-the-counter access,” The Hill, June 11, 2021
“The Chance to Choose,” Deep Dive with Laura Arnold podcast, June 3, 2021
Video reel of Dr. McDonald-Mosley
Dana Singiser
Dana Singiser, co-founder of CAI, is a partner at Keefe Singiser Partners. She is a seasoned advocate and health care policy expert with over 25 years of policy, political, campaign and legal experience. Prior to Keefe Singiser Partners, Dana served as senior vice president for Policy, Campaigns, and Advocacy at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, where she was a strategic leader of the organization’s response to the unprecedented attacks on reproductive health care and of the organization’s efforts to protect and expand women’s health care. She worked extensively with Cabinet members, Senators, members of Congress, senior federal officials and coalition partners, and appeared frequently in the media.
Dana also served in the Obama White House, where she worked as the special assistant to the president and a key member of the team that helped pass the Affordable Care Act. Dana held leadership positions on President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. She also served as staff director for the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee under the chairmanship of Senator Hillary Clinton and Democratic Leaders Harry Reid and Tom Daschle.
Dana Singiser in the news:
“Democratic lawmakers call for insurance plans to fully cover over-the-counter birth control pill,” CNN, October 30, 2023
“Fighting For The Right to Contraception Access,” Public Health on Call, October 20, 2023
“A roadmap for making over-the-counter birth control affordable,” STAT, August 23, 2023
“Birth control pills aren’t available over the counter in U.S. That could change.,” Washington Post, May 4, 2023
“American women still can’t get birth control pills without a prescription. This company has been trying for nine years,” Fortune, February 10, 2023
“‘Pink tape’ at the FDA is delaying access to contraception — again,” STAT First Opinion, June 6, 2022
Independent Medical Experts
Experts from different specialties and areas of medicine are available to speak with journalists. Visit this page to learn more.
Other Experts
Marcela Howell, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda
For media inquiries, contact Loretta Kane, loretta@caminopr.com
Marcela Howell is the founder, president and CEO of In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, a national reproductive justice organization focused on lifting up the voices of Black women leaders in the ongoing fight to secure reproductive justice for all women, femmes, girls and gender-expansive folx. Ms. Howell is a frequent commentator on issues affecting Black women — in national media outlets, hearings before Congress, on college campuses and at high-profile conferences and events. She has been quoted in stories, articles and columns in The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, Reuters, The Los Angeles Times, Vox, MarketWatch, The Root, BuzzFeed News and Black Enterprise. She has a master’s degree in literature from Saint Louis University and a J.D. from Pepperdine School of Law.
American Medical Association
For media inquiries, contact Robert J. Mills, robert.mills@ama-assn.org
The American Medical Association (AMA) comprises over 190 state and specialty medical societies, making it the most robust health care conglomerate in the US. The core tenet of the AMA is to promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health.
Statement on FDA Application Submission for First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill
“The American Medical Association (AMA) supports removing the prescription access barrier to contraception and policy adopted today by the nation’s physicians and medical students gathered at the AMA Annual Meeting encourages the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve over-the-counter (OTC) access to oral contraceptives without an age restriction.”
— The American Medical Association (AMA)
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS
For media inquiries, contact Jamie Poslosky, jpolosky@aap.org
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) supports nearly 70,000 pediatricians across the country who are dedicated to providing adequate care to infants, children, adolescents and young adults.
Statement on FDA Application Submission for First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill
“The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) unequivocally supports the right of adolescents to access comprehensive, evidence-based reproductive healthcare. It is essential that we support adolescents in making informed decisions about their health and their future. While young people have long faced extensive barriers accessing this care, the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade makes it more urgent than ever that we remove barriers to evidence-based reproductive health care, including contraception. As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviews the application for the first over-the-counter birth control pill, the AAP urges the agency to follow the science and make its decision based on what the evidence shows is safe and effective for adolescent use. Reproductive health care is a key component of adolescent health, and it is important that we ensure young people are supported and have access to evidence-based care, like any other vital health care service.”
- Moira Szilagyi, MD, FAAP, president, American Academy of Pediatrics
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
For media inquiries, contactcommunications@acog.org
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is the nation’s leading group of physicians providing health care for women with more than 60,000 members.
Statement on FDA Application Submission for First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill
“In 2021, ACOG re-affirmed its 2015 endorsement of the pill OTC. The committee opinion states that the organization “supports over-the-counter access to hormonal contraception without age restrictions” and that “several studies have demonstrated that women are capable of using self-screening tools to determine their eligibility for hormonal contraceptive use.”
— American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES OVER-THE-COUNTER WORKING GROUP
The Oral Contraceptives (OCs) Over-the-Counter (OTC) Working Group is a coalition of more than 100 organizations and individuals who share a commitment to providing easier access to safe, effective and affordable contraceptives; they support making birth control pills available over-the-counter and ensuring that they are affordable, covered by insurance and available to people of all ages. The working group applies an explicit reproductive justice lens to its work, and its steering committee’s statement on racial justice and equity highlights its commitment to racial justice. The working group’s vehicle for garnering support is its statement of purpose. Free the Pill is the working group’s public-facing campaign to educate, engage and build support for OCs OTC in the United States. The working group and the Free the Pill campaign are convened by Ibis Reproductive Health, a global research organization driving change through bold, rigorous research and principled partnerships that advance sexual and reproductive autonomy, choices and health worldwide. For media inquiries, email ibis@conwaystrategic.com.
Ibis Reproductive Health
Ibis Reproductive Health drives change through bold, rigorous research and principled partnerships that advance sexual and reproductive autonomy, choices and health worldwide. Ibis houses the Oral Contraceptives (OCs) Over-the-Counter (OTC) Working Group, a coalition of reproductive health, rights and justice organizations; nonprofit research and advocacy groups; university-based researchers and prominent clinicians who share a commitment to providing all women of reproductive age easier access to safe, effective, acceptable and affordable contraceptives.
#FreeThePill Youth Council
Media contact: press@advocatesforyouth.org
A collaboration between two reproductive health organizations, Advocates for Youth and Ibis Reproductive Health. The #FreeThePill Youth Council is a youth activist-led group working ardently within communities to promote fully insured birth control over-the-counter that is accessible to people of all ages.
Statement on FDA Application Submission for First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill
“Now more than ever, young people need birth control that’s accessible, affordable, and over-the-counter… We need tools to help us plan our lives and our futures. And we need policies that move us forward, not backward.”
— Angela Maske, strategic projects manager and coordinator of the #FreethePill Youth Council
Pharmaceutical Companies
Cadence Health
Cadence Health is advancing an over-the-counter switch application for a combined oral contraception (COC) with the FDA.
HRA Pharma, a perrigo company
HRA Pharma, a Perrigo company, is advancing an over-the-counter switch application for a progestin-only oral contraception (POP) with the FDA.