TRENTON, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — A plan to make contraceptives available without a prescription at New Jersey pharmacies has taken a step forward.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed the bill into law in January that allows pharmacies to sell oral, transdermal or vaginal contraceptives without a prescription. Now, the state's Board of Medical Examiners has signed off on the framework of that plan.
"Sometime, in the first half — we're hoping — of next year, any woman will be able to walk into a pharmacy in New Jersey and buy birth control without a prescription, if it is medically appropriate, period. Full stop," Murphy proclaimed, "whether or not they live in the Garden State."
Murphy expects the pharmacy plan to be up and running sometime around June 2024.
Jackie Cornell, with Planned Parenthood of New Jersey, says the state continues to set an example for reproductive rights.
"New Jersey has codified the right to abortion into state law, and I might add that this is one of the strongest laws in the entire country," said Cornell.
"Our governor and our legislature have invested historic funding of reproductive health care services, as well as championing new funding in addition to those increases, towards facilities, training, and security for abortion providers."
Additional funding for reproductive care has been a priority for the Murphy administration since before the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2022 decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision, allowing individual states to ban abortion. The governor signed the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act in January 2022, codifying the constitutional right to reproductive choice in the Garden State.
