Since the first oral contraceptive pill was approved for use in the United States in 1960, American women have relied on hormonal birth control—not just as one of the most widely used forms of contraception, but also as an effective treatment for a wide variety of other health concerns.
The vast majority of American women who have had sex—a full four out of five sexually experienced women—have taken birth control pills at some point in their lives. An estimate 11.2 million U.S. women aged 15–44, or 18% of all women, currently use oral contraception.
More than half (58%) of these women use oral contraceptives, at least in part, for purposes other than pregnancy prevention, and 14%—more than 1.5 million women—rely on the pill for solely non-contraceptive purposes.
And yet, the United States, the supposed bastion of free markets, is on a short list of countries that do not allow women to purchase birth control pills over-the-counter.
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