( CNN ) -- Over the past few weeks , politicians who have taken a hard-line stance against insurance coverage for contraception are offering a new alternative : make birth control available over the counter . At first glance , this appears to be a welcome shift , a reflection of the growing support for making birth control available to more women . It 's not . When health insurance does n't cover birth control and women have to pay out of pocket at the drugstore , it wo n't expand access to birth control but shrink it . Thanks to the Affordable Care Act , more than 48 million women in the U.S. are eligible for preventive care , including birth control , with no co-pay . We 're not just talking about the pill ; we are talking about the full range of contraceptive methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration . That 's 48 million women who are able to go to the pharmacy or a doctor 's office and get birth control with no out-of-pocket costs . In the first full year of the birth control benefit , American women saved $ 483 million more ( PDF ) . So when politicians who have otherwise embraced policies that would drag women back to the 1950s suggest making birth control available over the counter instead of covering it in insurance plans , they 're not experiencing a change of heart . They 're suggesting something that would take us back to the days when women had to pay out-of-pocket for their prescriptions , making birth control harder to get for many women , not least women who use birth control methods that simply can not be stocked on store shelves , like IUDs , one of the most effective ( and expensive ) forms of long-acting birth control . Offering over-the-counter birth control instead of insurance coverage for birth control amounts to a $ 483 million tax on women . Let 's get one thing clear : More access to birth control is a good thing . That 's why Planned Parenthood was founded nearly 100 years ago -- and it 's why a full range of women 's preventive care , including birth control , is now covered under the Affordable Care Act . Planned Parenthood , the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology agree with virtually every other mainstream health care provider and expert in this country : Birth control should be more available . Planned Parenthood has been fighting to expand access to birth control for nearly 100 years . We support making it available over the counter , in addition to requiring insurance plans to cover it -- but not instead of requiring no co-pay coverage . Women deserve both/and , not either/or . When America 's leading doctors and scientists sat down last year to identify the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century , here 's what made the list : reducing heart disease , fluoride in drinking water , identifying the risks of tobacco , vaccines for a host of epidemics -- and birth control . That 's because for women , the ability to decide whether and when to have children has changed everything . Thanks to birth control , more women are able to get an education , finish school and pursue careers . Women are now making more money ( though we still have a ways to go on that front ) and are represented in higher numbers in the work force . In the decades since birth control became widely available , child mortality declined and health outcomes improved for women , infants and children . For women , birth control is n't a controversial topic or a political bargaining chip ; it 's basic health care , and it 's only a `` social issue '' if you 've never had to pay for it . That 's why insurance coverage for birth control is so revolutionary -- and necessary . Let 's get one thing clear : More access to birth control is a good thing . Back when Congress was figuring out what should and should n't be included as part of health reform , the nonpartisan Institute of Medicine was asked to develop recommendations for women 's health benefits that absolutely had to be in . The Institute recommended that insurance cover eight critical women 's health services , including breastfeeding counseling and supplies , HIV screening , domestic violence services -- and birth control . Sensing a theme ? The bottom line : Political proposals to make birth control available over the counter have less to do with access and more to do with the price tag , which they want women to cover out of pocket . We do n't have time or energy to waste on political games , not when roughly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended and too many women still struggle to get the health care they need . At Planned Parenthood , we are eager to work with anyone who has an idea that would make birth control more readily available to women . So to these politicians : Come see us when you 're really ready to talk , and let 's see if we can come up with the next great advance in women 's health .
Cecile Richards : Politicians ' push for over - the - counter birth control is not good news . People against coverage for contraception want women to pay out of pocket , she says . She says it would make birth control less available ; people like IUDs ' n't be over counter . Richards : Proposal , aimed at ending Obamacare , amounts to $ 483 million tax on women .