The obstacles created by the prescription status of oral contraceptives may be one reason why many women stop taking them after just one year. Many states are now permitting the prescription of 12-month supplies as opposed to the three-month maximum supply that has been the general rule. That’s a step in the right direction. In its 2012 call to reclassify birth control pills as nonprescription drugs, ACOG cited research from the University of Texas that compared the use of oral contraceptives across the U.S.-Mexico border at El Paso/Ciudad Juarez — oral contraceptives are available over the counter in Mexico. The researchers concluded that providing users of oral contraceptive pills “with more pill packs and removing the prescription requirement would both lead to increased continuation.”