California passes Menstrual Equity for All Act

A new piece of legislation requiring all public schools in the state to provide free menstrual products was recently signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom. KAITA PANNOR, Illustrator

Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, all California public schools with students in grades six to 12, community colleges, the California State University system and the University of California system will be required to provide free menstrual products in restrooms. The Menstrual Equity for All Act was introduced by Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

“(Periods) can surprise us during an important midterm, while playing with our children at a park, sitting in a lobby waiting to interview for a job, shopping at the grocery store or even standing on the Assembly Floor presenting an important piece of legislation,” Garcia said in an Oct. 8 statement. “Having convenient and free access to these products means our period won’t prevent us from being productive members of society and would alleviate the anxiety of trying to find a product when out in public.”

Although Chapman is a private institution, it began providing free tampons and sanitary pads in women’s and all-gender restrooms in the spring of 2018. Coin-operated, hygiene vending machines were replaced by free dispensers, and bathrooms without dispensers were stocked with baskets of menstrual products. 

The Chapman Diversity Project Advisory Group on the Status of Women — led by former co-chair Denise Johnson — spearheaded the effort to provide free menstrual products on campus. Though she is no longer at the forefront of this mission, Johnson still teaches art history in the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and remains an advocate for free menstrual products on a wider scale.

“Why is it that I can go into a restroom and not have to pay for toilet paper or for a toilet seat cover, but I have to pay for a tampon?” Johnson said. “Aren't they similarly-minded products? If you're going to make one free and available, why not the other?”

Under Newsom, California also eliminated the tax on menstrual products under Newsom — effective until Dec. 31, 2021. Garcia said in a statement this tax typically costs Californians more than $20 million annually. 

Free period products were already required in low-income schools, thanks to a piece of 2017 legislation also introduced by Garcia.

“One of the big talking points the (Chapman Diversity Project Advisory Group) was concerned about was someone might need menstrual products who's not able to afford them otherwise,” Johnson said. “Why would an institution like Chapman make things like toilet paper in the restroom free and available but not menstrual products? There seemed to be an obvious gender bias that was in operation there that could easily be mended. Why not do the right thing?”

Jane O'Connor, a junior communication studies major, shared a similar sentiment.

“I just always think of menstrual products as a necessity and a basic need that someone has because every single woman experiences a period and every single woman experiences different changes in their bodies, and that's not something anyone can control,” O’Connor said. “That kind of just proves the fact that it's needed.”

Edward Howard, who currently works as executive director of student and community services for the Orange Unified School District (OUSD) but formerly operated as principal of Villa Park High School (VPHS) for 10 years, said for the entirety of his time at VPHS, the school always provided free menstrual products for students.

“Availability of any kind of products for health or hygiene products is necessary in a high school and a middle school,” Howard said. “As a school district, (OUSD has) always had availability on our campuses for our students.”