In 2024, one in four teens and one in three adults struggle to purchase period products, with 44% of teens reporting stress and embarrassment due to their lack of access to period products. Individuals that cannot afford period products can be found using newspapers, rags, and socks instead of pads, pantiliners, or tampons, leading to health problems. Furthermore, period poverty disproportionately impacts Black and Latinx communities: nearly a quarter of menstruating individuals within these communities struggled to afford period products in 2021.
 
For these reasons, we plan to introduce legislation that if a federal waiver is made available to states to allow those receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to use the two programs for menstrual hygiene products, then the Department of Human Services and the Department of Health may apply. Currently, these programs do not allow for the purchase of menstrual hygiene products, despite being a vital necessity.
 
Moreover, our other bill would create a grant program to provide eligible public-school entities with funding to acquire and distribute menstrual hygiene products at no expense to students.
 
More than half of the world’s population are menstruating individuals, and they should not have to miss work, school, or other life events due to not having access to period products. It is time that period poverty comes to the forefront of discussion.
 
Please consider co-sponsoring this crucial legislation and provide individuals with accessibility to a necessity, period products, for whenever they may be in need.
 
 

Statutes/Laws affected:
Printer's No. 1176: P.L.31, No.21