--- title: The First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill Is Here description: Women will now be able to get Opill without a prescription. canonical: https://time.com/6837572/over-the-counter-birth-control-pill-opill/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-03-04T19:06:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T17:14:07.705Z article:section: Health og:title: The First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill Is Here og:description: Women will now be able to get Opill without a prescription. og:url: https://time.com/6837572/over-the-counter-birth-control-pill-opill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd789471e329e6ccd/698a4917b21a9c6181508902/Perrigo-Company-opill.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Birth Control Pill og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill Is Here twitter:description: Women will now be able to get Opill without a prescription. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd789471e329e6ccd/698a4917b21a9c6181508902/Perrigo-Company-opill.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill Is Here > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Mar 4, 2024 7:06 PM UTC  Boxes of Opill, the first over-the-counter birth control pill available later this month in the United States. Boxes of Opill, the first over-the-counter birth control pill available later this month in the United States.Perrigo Company/AP  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Mar 4, 2024 7:06 PM UTC The first birth control pill that people can buy without a prescription, called Opill, is shipping to stores this week. [Perrigo](https://www.perrigo.com/all-press-releases), the Ireland-based company that makes Opill, said the pills should be available to purchase at retail pharmacies and online by the end of March. The pills are designed to be taken daily at about the same time each day, and they will be sold in one-month packs for $19.99 and three-month packs for $49.99. A spokesperson for CVS, one pharmacy that will be stocking the pill, said the pills will be in more than 7,500 of its stores nationwide and will be available to order on the store's app. People can opt for same-day delivery or pick-up in store to preserve their privacy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration [approved](https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-nonprescription-daily-oral-contraceptive?utm%5Fsource=substack&utm%5Fmedium=email) the over-the-counter use of the oral contraceptive last summer in [a landmark decision](https://time.com/6278740/over-the-counter-birth-control-pill-fda/). Women can now walk into any pharmacy or go online to purchase the pills without medical supervision; previously, birth control pills required a prescription and had to be dispensed by a pharmacist. Opill contains only the hormone progestin and prevents pregnancy in several different ways, including preventing the ovaries from releasing eggs and making the uterus less hospitable for fertilized eggs to implant and grow. Because progestin is active for about 24 hours, it’s important for women to take the pill every day at about the same time for it to be most effective. Under those conditions, Opill is up to 98% effective in preventing pregnancy. There are side effects linked to the pill, including bleeding, bloating, and abdominal pain. If these are severe and persist, women should report them to their doctor. Opill is not recommended for women with a history of breast cancer or those who are also using other forms of hormonal birth control, such as an IUD, patch, or implant. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6837572/over-the-counter-birth-control-pill-opill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6837572/over-the-counter-birth-control-pill-opill/"},"headline":"The First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill Is Here","datePublished":"2024-03-04T19:06:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:14:07.705Z","description":"Women will now be able to get Opill without a prescription.","url":"https://time.com/6837572/over-the-counter-birth-control-pill-opill/","keywords":["Drugs","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd789471e329e6ccd/698a4917b21a9c6181508902/Perrigo-Company-opill.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd789471e329e6ccd/698a4917b21a9c6181508902/Perrigo-Company-opill.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Birth Control Pill","caption":"Birth Control Pill","creditText":"Perrigo Company/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/drugs/","name":"Drugs"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6837572/over-the-counter-birth-control-pill-opill/","name":"The First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill Is Here"}}]}] ```