Girls To Be Given Free Access To Morning After Pill

Auckland District Health Board (ADHB) will consider a staff proposal tomorrow, to provide free access to the emergency contraceptive pill, or morning after pill, at local pharmacies, The New Zealand Herald reports.

At the moment the pill is sold at pharmacies without a doctor's prescription, for around $35, without parental consent.

ADHB planning and funding manager Wendy Hoskin said the aim of the proposal was to reduce the level of teenage pregnancies and the impact they had on families and the community.

People given the Levonelle 1 pill by their pharmacist would also be offered a packet of condoms and a pamphlet on sexual health and contraception.

The $300,000 scheme was a pilot that would run until the money was spent, which could take a year.

Depending on how many people used the service, a move could be made to make the service permanent, ADHB said.

A similar Waikato health board scheme for women and girls under 25, set up last year to try to reduce teenage pregnancy and abortions, aims to supply the emergency pill for free to nearly 3000 people a year through pharmacies.

Families First spokesman Bob McCoskrie said giving free access to the emergency pill at pharmacies would exclude parents.

"Making it free and even more accessible is going to continue to alienate parents from the role they should be involved in."