After rejecting it a day earlier, the House on Tuesday passed a bill allowing pharmacists to dispense birth-control pills to customers who lack prescriptions from doctors or nurse practitioners.
The sponsor of House Bill 1290, Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Clarksville, said it would reduce abortions and unwanted pregnancies and would lower the state's health care costs.
Some opponents have argued that increasing access to birth-control pills would encourage promiscuity. On the House floor Monday, Pilkington responded: "I say that we need to leave that kind of 1950s thinking in the past."
On Tuesday, he apologized for the remark after learning that it had offended some members.
He said that just before he spoke Monday, he had been handed a note making the promiscuity argument.
[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of the Arkansas Legislature]
"Having a mother who uses birth control and my wife, who uses birth control, I found that very insulting to women, and so with that, I may have construed a message that I did not mean to construe," Pilkington said Tuesday.
Arguing against the bill Tuesday, Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, said the increased availability of birth control over the past several decades has coincided with a drop in teen pregnancies but also an increase in single mothers.
"We've seen a big change in our society, and a lot of it is from lower expectations from people," he said.
Rep. Vivian Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, responded, "I have raised expectations that grown women who wish to utilize contraceptives have the access and the freedom to do so, and be responsible in that vein."
She said she also wants to give teenagers opportunities to act responsibly.
Other opponents argued that the bill would reduce the likelihood of women seeing gynecologists who might spot serious health problems during an exam.
The bill would allow pharmacists who complete a training program approved by the state Board of Pharmacy to dispense oral contraceptives to women who are 18 or older.
The pharmacist would have to follow a protocol approved by the Pharmacy Board and state Medical Board, and notify the woman's primary-care provider.
If the woman had not seen a primary-care or women's health practitioner within the previous six months, the pharmacist would be required to refer the woman to a primary-care provider and limit the drugs to a six-month supply.
On Tuesday, the bill passed in a 54-29 vote, with nine other members voting "present." A day earlier, it failed 48-30, with nine members voting present.
It next goes to the Senate.
Metro on 03/06/2019