The FDA considers first birth control pill without a prescription

Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will make a recommendation about whether the agency should approve the first over-the-counter birth control pill in the U.S. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

For the first time, the Food and Drug Administration is considering allowing women to get birth control pills in the U.S. without a prescription.

"It's a very exciting historic moment for contraceptive access," says Kelly Blanchard, who heads Ibis Reproductive Health, a nonprofit research group.