Sen. Patty Murray advocates for affordable and accessible over-the-counter birth control.

U.S. Senator Patty Murray has reintroduced legislation that would require insurance companies to cover over-the-counter birth control pills as soon as they become available without a prescription, as recently recommended unanimously by a Food and Drug Administration panel. Murray hopes Republicans will join her in supporting the bill, which would build on a requirement in the Affordable Care Act that most health insurance companies provide contraceptive coverage without a co-pay. The proposal comes amidst other battles over access to reproductive health care, including ongoing litigation in the federal courts over the abortion pill, mifepristone.