September Menstruation Legislation Updates

September 29, 2022

Class is back in session, and so is the latest news in Menstruation Nation!

Check out the latest menstruation legislation updates below.

Passed:

• Western Australia: In a win for menstrual equity, Western Australia will require public schools to provide free period products for students in grades 7-12. Starting in October, the government and schools will start the process to find a proper provider for the estimated 225 schools that will gain access to products, and the program will go live in the first term of next year, in January 2023.
• California AB2482: Singed into effect by Governor Gavin Newsome last month, this pilot program that, until July 1, 2029, would require the California State University and the California Community Colleges to have at least one vending machine on each campus that dispenses wellness products. Such products include, but are not limited to, condoms, dental dams, menstrual cups, lubrication, tampons, pads, pregnancy tests and discounted emergency contraception.

In Progress:

• Pennsylvania HB1419: Provides free period products to all incarcerated individuals and detainees who menstruate. Under the bill, correctional institutions must provide at least two sizes or absorbency levels of pads and tampons when requested by medical staff. As of September 19, this bill has been crossed over in the Judiciary branch for examination.
• Massachusetts H4948: This bill ensures prisoners’ constitutional rights and human dignity on mental health watch and would require access to disposal menstrual products. The bill is in committee as of June 30th, 2022.

Taking Effect:

• Alabama: Beginning in August 2022, public schools that receive Title I funds, and provide instruction in grades 5 – 12, are able to annually apply for grants to provide period products at no costs to students from the $250,000 grant fund. The products are dispensed by a school nurse or other designated female faculty member.
• Rhode Island: By the start of the 2022-2023 school year, all Rhode Island public schools are required to provide free period products in all female and gender-neutral bathrooms that serve students in grades 5-12.
• Washington: By the 2022-2023 school year, school districts, charter schools, state-tribal compact schools, and private schools must make period products available at no cost in all gender-neutral and female bathrooms, as well as one male bathroom, serving students in grades 6-12.
• Maryland: This legislation requires that county school boards of education ensure each public school provides, at no charge to students, period products via dispensers in women’s restrooms. This legislation provides funding ($500,000) for the initial installation of dispensers and requires that middle and high schools install at least two dispensers and elementary schools install at least one dispenser by October 1, 2022.
• Hawaii: Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, the Hawaii Department of Education is required to provide period products free of charge to all students on all public school and public charter campuses. The state appropriates $2,000,000 to fund this mandate in the state budget.
• Missouri: Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education was provided with $1,000,000 in their state budget for the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 to provide period products in all middle school, junior high, and high school buildings in which there are students in grades 6-12 at no cost to students.
• North Carolina: As of July 2022, North Carolina established the Feminine Hygiene Products Grant Program within the state budget for the Fiscal Year 2022-2023, to provide schools with grants for providing period products in public schools at no charge to students.