In a unanimous vote, an expert panel for the Food and Drug Administration recommended that Opill, an oral contraceptive pill, be available to women over-the-counter. The FDA doesn’t have to follow the committee’s recommendation, but often does, so this is a pretty good signal for what's to come.

The decision comes at a perilous time for women’s reproductive rights, following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the legal battle over the abortion pill mifepristone. With the vote, the 17 members of the committee acknowledged that women need an accessible, safe way to prevent pregnancy, without medical supervision. Here are some of the factors that the panel members considered:

• In the U.S., the most effective contraceptive methods include birth control pills, like Opill, and intrauterine devices—both of which require a prescription.
• Non-prescription methods including condoms are at best 90% effective in preventing pregnancy—compared to an efficacy rate as high as 99% for the pill (when used as directed).
• The highest rates of unintended pregnancy among U.S. women occurs among those who face barriers to getting prescription contraceptives, including difficulty in making appointments, arranging transportation, taking time off from work and child care, and the costs.

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