Murray Statement on FDA Advisory Committee’s Unanimous Vote to Recommend Approval of OTC Birth Control

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committee issued the following statement following the FDA Advisory Committee’s unanimous, 17-0 vote to recommend FDA approve the first-ever application for over-the-counter birth control:

“This is an enormous step forward in the fight to expand access to contraception in America—a fight that is even more important today in a world without Roe. Now, FDA should trust the experts—who voted unanimously in support of this application—and must not delay in getting over-the-counter birth control on the shelves for American women.

“Women use over-the-counter birth control in more than 100 countries—and it’s long past time American women had that option as well. In the face of so many other barriers women face to controlling their reproductive lives and futures, we need to be doing everything we possibly can to make it easier to access and afford birth control. Today’s vote takes us one step closer to getting there.”

Over the course of her career, Senator Murray has always fought to ensure widespread access to affordable birth control. She has introduced landmark legislation to ensure that, once the FDA determines an over-the-counter birth control option to be safe, insurers then fully cover over-the-counter birth control without any out-of-pocket costs. In the aftermath of the Dobbs leak, Senator Murray introduced and sought unanimous consent to pass the Right to Contraception Act to protect every American’s right to use contraception—Republicans blocked the bill. Senator Murray pushed to ensure birth control was covered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), led the fight against the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling, and has persistently pressed the administration to enforce the ACA’s coverage for contraceptive services since then. Senator Murray has long held that FDA must make its decisions based on sound science and public health needs, not politics—and she is widely credited with leading the fight to make Plan B available over the counter.

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