Washington DC - President Joe Biden on Monday announced plans to expand access to contraceptive products, including free over-the-counter birth control.

"This new action would help ensure that millions of women with private health insurance can access the no-cost contraception they need," Biden said in a statement.

The proposed rule would widen coverage of contraception without cost for 52 million women of reproductive age with private health insurance, the White House said.

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris described the proposal in a statement as the "largest expansion of contraception coverage in more than a decade".

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The proposal must go through a 60-day public comment period before it is finalized.

Current health care law requires most insurance plans to cover contraception at no cost, but allows them to require a prescription.

Biden's plan would extend coverage to over-the-counter products, including emergency contraceptives.

In the wake of a 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned the constitutional right to abortion, Democrats have positioned themselves as the party of reproductive rights, with polls indicating that a majority of Americans support access to abortion.

The issue is one of the most salient ones in the upcoming presidential election, now just over two weeks away.