The Biden-Harris administration is proposing a plan to make over-the-counter contraceptives free

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris just proposed a groundbreaking new plan to make birth control far more accessible.

The new proposal would make over-the-counter contraceptives and condoms free for people of childbearing age who have private health insurance, White House officials say. This expansion of insurance coverage could affect an estimated 52 million young women across the U.S., they added. Additionally, the proposal would allow patients access to preventive services, including cancer screenings, without cost-sharing obligations.

“Republican elected officials in some states have made it clear that they want to ban or restrict birth control in addition to abortion, and Republicans in Congress have attacked access to contraceptives nationwide by proposing to end Title X funding -Family planning program,” says the White House proposal fact sheet. “President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that women in every state must have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions, including the right to decide whether and when to start or expand a family.”

In fact, the proposed rule comes at a time when Republican officials are working to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the landmark health care law signed into law by former President Barack Obama in 2010. Just last month, for example, Trump attacked the ACA during his debate with Harris, calling it “bad health care.” He added: “If we think of something and work on it, we will do it and replace it.”

The Biden-Harris proposal would address a growing need in the United States. According to the reproductive rights nonprofit Power to Decide, more than 19 million women in the U.S. live in contraception deserts — or regions that have limited access to health centers that offer contraceptives, particularly large pockets found in states like Texas and Kansas. Additional data from the Guttmacher Institute shows that after the Roe v. Wade said in 2022 barriers to accessing contraceptives increased as the quality of contraceptive care declined.

The proposed rule follows other efforts by the current administration to expand access to contraception, including an executive order announced last year to make it easier for college students, military and veterans, and federal employees to access birth control and emergency contraception. The President also signed a memorandum protecting legal access to medical abortion back in January 2023. And last December, Harris launched her nationwide “Reproductive Freedoms Tour” to highlight the harmful effects of abortion bans on women.

Implementing this new rule is just one piece of the puzzle – both Biden and Harris say they will continue to push Congress to overturn Roe v. Wade to continue to ensure “that women in every state can make their own decisions about reproductive health care.”