NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Buying over-the-count birth control pills could become a possibility in the United States, making it easier for women to get them.

About half of all pregnancies are unintended, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Over-the-counter birth control pills for women are available in many parts of the world including the United Kingdom, where they have been available since last year.

A French company is now asking the FDA to review the over-the-counter use of its progesterone-only birth control pill in May.

One concern is that pill side effects would not be monitored by a doctor if it is over-the-counter.

Yale Medicine urologist Stan Honig said the pill does not contain the hormone estrogen, which increases health risks.

“This particular pill is a progesterone pill only so it seems to be a little bit safer in terms of blood clots and things like that,” Dr. Honig said.

All of the nation’s leading medical associations for family and reproductive health approve of the birth control pill being available without a prescription, citing rising maternal deaths and the number of unplanned pregnancies.

If it is approved for over-the-counter usage it would join the emergency Plan B pill on store shelves.

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Dr. Hoing also discussed if men can expect to see new options for male birth control beyond vasectomies and condoms.

Doctor Honig mentioned one preliminary study involving injections or pills.

“That might stop the motility or the movement in sperm and really just acutely meaning you take it the night before or something like that and it might be able to affect the functionality of the sperm,” Dr. Hoing said.

He said any option that works for couples is a good thing. Doctors are seeing a trend of vasectomies in men now that abortions are not as available everywhere in the U.S.

“In states where abortion has become more of an issue we’ve seen an uptick in vasectomies across the board. I think this is going to be a big issue moving forward,” Dr. Honig said.

And he says they are younger, childless men who do not want to have children.