On October 9th, participants holding banners and signs gathered outside the Capitol to show their solidarity with the abolition of the tax on menstrual products.
Many organizations of different forms and sizes participated in this event. It’s worth noting that Period Equity is a national lawyer organization that aims to use their expertise to advocate for reproductive rights, and Help Women Period, a grassroots organization in Lansing that provides free menstrual products for those in need .
However, whether local or national, these organizations hope to support two bills awaiting the state Senate.
If passed, the HB 4270 and HB 5267 bills will abolish the 6% sales tax on tampons, pads and other sanitary products. These products have long been considered medical necessities, and according to Michigan law, the Food and Drug Administration and the Internal Revenue Service require these products to be tax-exempt.
Currently, the state levies approximately $6.5 million in taxes on menstrual products each year. Proponents of the tax cut believe that the exemption of sales tax on menstrual products will relieve the tremendous pressure on the 400,000 menstruating people living below the poverty line in Michigan. This exemption can also be a step towards widespread use of menstrual products.
“Many of us have a drawer with the underwear we took out,” Brixie said. “If we think about it, what will happen to people living below the poverty line? … What about teenagers who might break their pants and have to go to school if they have menstrual blood on their pants?”
Brixie cited the problems faced by teenagers when they first had menstruation as more reasons for abolishing taxes.
“Menstrual teenagers experience some of the most embarrassing moments we can think of if they can’t get the product,” Brixie said. “Taking taxes on the products they need will reduce the range of resources they have.”
Brixie also said that youth activism is important. She said that when she was Meridian’s treasurer, it was through her children that she participated in the sport. It was her child who made her notice a problem “I never thought about it before.”
At the rally, people in their 20s made the loudest call to action. Ashley Rapp, co-founder of the PERIOD chapter of the University of Michigan, emphasized the potential of contemporary society to create social change.
Rapp said: “These words that people say to our generation actually make us a unique position to end the tampon tax and empower us.” “We are not here to shout, like us What was eaten for dinner yesterday is such an irrelevant question. We are here today to join our voices to raise each other’s voices on important issues.”
In fact, many of the boldest organizational efforts have already begun and spread through the power of social media. Helping Women Period started as a small fundraising party for 30 people, after which the founder had to decide to join after hundreds of people saw her post on Facebook.
Rapp herself started from a young age and drove around dealing with products purchased with her birthday money. For Rapp, who has been involved in eradicating menstrual poverty for more than seven years, all actions—from social media campaigns to writing letters to lawmakers—are effective and important contributions to the campaign, regardless of its scale.
They said that Rapp’s advocacy will only be strengthened by her own professional education in the healthcare field. As an epidemiologist, what happens if you use the product for too long before changing the product, it helps to understand the background knowledge.
“If I can use my background and experience to reduce the stigma, this is what I want to do,” Rapp said.
Noting that the rally started a few weeks after the six-week abortion ban was passed in Texas, advocate Madeleine Morales pointed to the similarities between the ban and the current tax imposed by Michigan.
“Menstrual fairness is a bipartisan human right, and I am very happy that Michigan is on track to become the 24th state to stop this very harmful practice,” Morales said. “For many years, menstruating people have shouldered heavy burdens. That’s why I’m here.”
Although menstruation and reproductive health have traditionally been regarded as “female issues”, terms such as “menstruation” and “menstrual products” were used throughout the assembly to reflect the fact that the dialogue surrounding menstruation and reproductive unfairness also extends to other communities.
“It’s not just about political correctness,” said Riley Corus, the vice president of the Planned Parenthood Generation Initiative at Michigan State University. “The language we use and the people we include in this movement have a real impact.”
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Korus said the goal is to dispel the myth that menstrual and reproductive health care only applies to women. Korus said that by choosing to treat menstruation as a completely female problem, it eliminates women who do not have menstruation and people who do not identify with women.
“This kind of exclusive language conveys a message to transgender people who need menstrual products that we are either women or we don’t exist at all,” Corus said. “The tampon tax will only punish those who have menstruation in order to survive.”
For Korus, the purpose of his participation in the movement is to make activism gender inclusive. If the legislation is passed, Korus said he hopes its impact will spread to other reproductive issues.
“When we talk about reproductive problems or people with uterus, we can change language, so it is not a woman’s right,” Korus said. “(The choice of the word) affects who participates in the conversation and ultimately affects who gets health care.”
Similarly, Nupur Huria, a student activist at Mission Menstruation, said that her participation in the event means she has the opportunity to understand and support patients and achieve her career goal of becoming a doctor.
However, personally, as a person of Indian descent, Huria said that she hopes to end the generational and cultural stigma surrounding menstruation. In many parts of India, women cannot enter temples or even participate in daily life because they are considered unclean. Many girls and menstruating men in India cannot get proper menstrual products. This is a shame and belief in menstruation.
Studies have shown that as many as 77% of women in India are using and reusing old cloths to replace sanitary napkins and tampons. According to research, another 88% of people occasionally use dried leaves or other items to help absorption.
Menstruating persons pay as much as $220 in taxes for menstrual products during their lifetime-less than the cost of one credit per semester at Michigan State University. However, the abolition of the menstrual tax is more than just returning $220 to menstruating men’s pockets-it will become a stepping stone for providing products for free in public places, especially schools, so that no one will have to miss the school and the subsequent A life-changing course.
“This will make us unemployed,” said Lysne Tait, founder of Help Women Period in Lansing. “But this is a positive thing.”
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Post time: Oct-28-2021