Imagine being a high school student, already exhausted from the state of the world and your fluctuating hormones. It’s a struggle to make it to class when you suddenly feel a debilitating pain in your abdomen. Ugh. It’s your period. The search for a tampon begins since you weren’t expecting to need one today. In the rush to not miss any class time, a trip to the bathroom turns into a trip to the nurse when you find that the tampon dispenser in the bathroom is empty, again. In addition to missing even more class time, this trip to the nurse results in humiliation when she asks how heavy your flow is. In Massachusetts, menstrual products are not accessible to everyone. Now, next to being a high school student in need, imagine being incarcerated, earning a few cents per hour, and being forced to choose between a bar of soap or a box of pads at the commissary. Or being unhoused, having to reuse paper towels or tissues during your period. These examples aren’t the exception. It’s a reality for thousands of people in Massachusetts experiencing period poverty.
The I AM Bill, An Act to Increase Access to Disposable Menstrual Products, is our chance to change that.
Period poverty is a term that encapsulates a lack of access to products, education and/or hygiene facilities needed to manage menstruation safely and with dignity. There are many individuals who struggle to afford menstrual supplies, and this lack of access contributes to the stigma and shame felt about periods. The I AM bill would require all public schools, homeless shelters and prisons in Massachusetts to provide free, accessible menstrual products in a manner that minimizes stigmatization. This mandate is simple, necessary and long overdue. Menstrual equity is not just a women’s issue. It’s a public health issue. An education issue. A human dignity issue.
Menstruation is a natural biological process, just like needing water and having to use the bathroom. But, unlike the easy access to clean tap water, toilet paper and soap, menstrual products in Massachusetts are often treated as optional, stigmatizing or worse, profitable. While Massachusetts has made headway in menstrual equity by making menstrual products tax exempt in 2013, there has yet to be a state policy requiring the provision of menstrual products for the people of the Commonwealth. Programs like the Supplemental Nutirtion Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) don’t cover hygiene products, so that means if you rely on these programs, your period becomes a monthly crisis.
According to the Mass Gov Rehousing Data Collective, there are over 25,000 people unhoused; furthermore, the Massachusetts Children’s League found that one in seven children in the Commonwealth lives in poverty, and in a 2023 study by Mass Now advocates over half of school nurses in Massachusetts report that students regularly miss class to find pads or tampons. From these statistics, it’s clear that when institutions fail to provide these basic supplies, people suffer. A 2020 I AM bill advocacy video by Leah Trachtenberg found that some kids without access to products had to improvise with unsafe alternatives, stretch products too long or go without altogether, risking serious infections and trauma.
The I AM bill is an unfunded mandate, and yes, that means it currently doesn’t come with designated state funding. But the cost of providing pads and tampons in restrooms is minimal compared to the toll of period poverty on education, health and dignity. This isn’t about luxury. It’s about justice. Furthermore, just like free and assumed access to toilet paper and water, menstrual products can be put into the budgets of the institutions the bill aims to address as a part of basic hygiene products.
The truth is, we already know how to fix the problem of period poverty. Massachusetts has made strides by no longer taxing menstrual products, and local organizations like the Massachusetts Menstrual Equity Coalition (MMEC) and Boston University student groups are stepping up to fill the gaps with product drives and education campaigns. But these situational solutions aren’t enough. Charity should never be the only safety net for basic human needs.
It’s time we codify Massachusetts’ commitment to reproductive equity into law. In 2023, the I AM Bill passed in the Massachusetts Senate. As of March 2025, the Bill has been reintroduced to the legislature and sits with the Committee of Public Health, so now is the moment to speak out. Whether you’re a student, a teacher, a healthcare worker or simply someone who believes in fairness, you can help. Email your representative to support the bill. Thank your senators if they have agreed to co-sponsor or support the bill. Tell lawmakers that you care and that you’re watching.
Because no one should have to choose between school, food, shelter and basic hygiene. Because periods don’t stop for poverty. And because dignity should never come with a price tag.
Written by:
Cora Boothby-Akilo, student at Brandeis University, majoring in African and African American Studies and minoring in Legal Studies.
Email: Corab@brandeis.edu
Photo credit: Flickr
