Women MPs call on Boots to permanently reduce morning after pill price following Black Friday deal

omen MPs have called for Boots to permanently reduce the price of the morning after pill.

They accused pharmacies of imposing “a sexist surcharge” on emergency contraceptives.

The pharmacy chain was offering a controversial half price “Black Friday deal” on the morning after pill, reducing its Levonorgestrel medication from £15.99 to £8 for the weekend.

In a letter, written by Dame Diana Johnson and signed by 26 Labour MPs – including Diane Abbott, Stella Creasey and Rosena Allin-Khan – the group asked that the retailer keep the lower price.

They stated even the reduced price tag is significantly more expensive than purchasing the medication from some online-only retailers.

“The discount you are offering, and the fact that the same medication is available for less than £4, demonstrates that, despite price reductions in 2017, pharmacies continue to impose a sexist surcharge on this important medication,” the letter, sent on Sunday, states.

Contraception – including the daily pill, implants and condoms – are free to all women and men through the NHS. However, emergency contraception is not.

The letter adds: “Pharmacy access to emergency contraception will be many women’s only option to prevent an unplanned pregnancy if their usual method has failed.”

Boots’ offer was due to run from November 26 to 30 and was promoted with an advert which read: “Get emergency contraception if you’ve had unprotected sex and want to prevent pregnancy.

“Use the code BLACKFRIDAY50 at checkout to get 50 per cent off your order. No charge if we can’t help.”

A Boots spokesperson said: “This Black Friday promotion that ran on our Online Doctor hub was 50% off all men’s and women’s private healthcare services.