
FDA approves first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill
CBSN
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, allowing Americans to buy a daily oral contraceptive without a prescription.
Opill, the progestin-only pill from drugmaker Perrigo, will provide an option for obtaining oral contraceptives without needing to first see a health care provider, in hopes of reducing barriers to access, according to the FDA's news release, which notes that almost half of the 6.1 million pregnancies in the U.S. each year are unintended.
"Today's approval marks the first time a nonprescription daily oral contraceptive will be an available option for millions of people in the United States," Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a news release Thursday morning. "When used as directed, daily oral contraception is safe and is expected to be more effective than currently available nonprescription contraceptive methods in preventing unintended pregnancy."

Robert Morris, founding pastor of Gateway Church, a megachurch in Southlake, Texas, has been indicted on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, stemming from alleged incidents dating back to the 1980s, the Oklahoma attorney general's office announced Wednesday. We are aware of the actions being taken by the legal authorities in Oklahoma and are grateful for the work of the justice system in holding abusers accountable for their actions. We continue to pray for Cindy Clemishire and her family, for the members and staff of Gateway Church, and for all of those impacted by this terrible situation.