Morning-after pill: 'You feel like you're being judged'

Niamh, who is 26 and from Manchester, says that women only take the morning-after pill in an emergency: "it’s for that time when your condom has broken and you don't quite know what to do. Going and getting it is the responsible thing [to do]." But she thinks the consultation puts women off seeking the pill and should be scrapped.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live Dr Jane Dickson, from the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health (FRSH), says that the compulsory pharmacist consultation isn’t medically necessary, and there was no medical reason the medication couldn’t be available on general sale. She says “despite occasional minor side effects, no woman has poisoned herself” with the morning-after pill, unlike paracetamol, which is readily available in supermarkets.

But Sandra Gidley, Chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, says the consultation is an important way for pharmacists to advise women on what medication will be most effective and to give advice on sexual health and STIs. She says “pharmacists have a professional responsibility to make sure it’s being taken appropriately and safely.”

You can read the full BBC Radio 5 live blog here.