it's a first for the nation the Food and Drug Administration today approved the birth control pill opal to be available over the counter making it the first non-prescription birth control pill in the U.S it's considered a milestone for Advocates who've spent decades working to make oral contraceptives easier to access especially by teenagers and women who don't regularly see a doctor the effort though took on a new urgency for them after the U.S Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v Wade the constitutional right to abortion Federal Regulators say opal has a long record of safety and Effectiveness according to the medications manufacturer perigo the pill should be available in stores starting this winter and won't have an age restriction but the cost and potential insurance coverage that remains unknown Dr Maria Sophocles is the director of women's healthcare of Princeton and today called the decision transformative is just so overdue it's so exciting for women to be able to access reliable safe contraception without having to take a day off work or get a babysitter or pay bus or cab fare to to get a simple prescription for something that's so safe and allow women to have say over their reproductive choices to stay in school to stay at work to shape the family they want when they want [Music] [Music]