I don't know how it works where you are, but in the US, we've always needed to get a written prescription from a doctor to get birth control pills. The prescription gets you permission to obtain the pills from the pharmacist (chemist) "behind the counter." The change here is the pills will be available without seeing a doctor first aka "over the counter" as we call it.
This has its good and bad points. It's better for people to receive teaching from a doctor about the side effects of birth control and how to use it. But also, getting in to see a doctor is a huge hurdle for working class people who need birth control the most. So overall, I support the move to make both control available over the counter.