We're getting personal about our periods. The path to menstrual equity starts with talking about it.
There’s a lot of feelings around getting your period: annoyance, pain, relief — joy, even. Worrying about how you’re going to pay for pads and tampons, and how you’ll get through your day if you can't, shouldn’t be one of them. Yet that’s the reality for 22 million people with uteruses in the US who are living in period poverty.
That’s why Refinery29 and the nonprofit Period Law have teamed up on a petition demanding Congress take action on the passing of a federal bill to remove the tax on menstrual products (pads, tampons, liners, and cups) across the country.
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The bill, which is known as the Stop Taxes Against Menstrual Products (STAMP) Act of 2024 and was introduced by Texas Congressman Al Green and New York Congresswoman Grace Meng in 2022, will supersede state legislation. Currently 20 states still tax menstrual products — products, we will note, which are classified by the FDA and IRS as essential medical devices — while giving tax breaks on other medical devices in addition to scratch-your-head exemptions on everything from country club memberships to candy and soda to food coloring, according to Period Law.
“A lot of people don't know that period products are taxed, especially people who don't need them. And in the 20 states that still tax these products, the majority of the legislatures are made up of men. The people who run the finance committees that make decisions about what products they exempt from tax are men,” says Laura Strausfeld, executive director of Period Law. “We believe a federal bill will incite some important conversations about why this one category of product should be singled out as worthy of federal attention.”
In a time when our reproductive rights are under attack, legislation like this is crucial and just one step toward ensuring menstrual equity. “The default has been to ignore the needs of people who menstruate,” adds Lisa White, director, strategy and operations at Period Law. “[Menstrual equity] includes eliminating the tampon tax and providing free access to menstrual products in schools, as well as in prisons and jails, where lack of access heightens indignities for incarcerated women. Shelters, too, must ensure access to these essential products, just like they do for other necessities.”
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The bill will need to be formally reintroduced in 2025.
Sign our petition here.
