Tonight, I trekked out to Overland Park, Kansas to join a Planned Parenthood event that centered on women’s access to hygiene products. I listened to some remarkable young women from the Honor Moon organization talk about their work to address what they term “period poverty.” What began with a collective wondering of how homeless persons managed menstruation led them to become acutely acquainted with the realities of access, or absence of access, to hygiene products. Period poverty is the inability to afford adequate feminine hygiene products. This poverty can lead to significant health complications for menstruating persons who must use products longer than is recommended or safe, or who must use inadequate stand-ins for hygiene items they lack. Many people who experience this type of poverty encounter monthly obstacles to regular participation in school, work, and life when they are forced to remain home many days of each month.
The founders of Honor Moon shared about the work they have done in their home community of Lawrence, KS. These seven high school freshmen founded their own non-profit in 2022 but their work began even before then. Today they are well-established offering free resources at two locations in Lawrence. Their work highlights an important need present in society and highlights a fundamental inequality of access. The work of these young women is laudable, but it points to issues of systemic inequality. In both Kansas and Missouri, menstruation hygiene products and diapers are taxed at personal-property, non-essential tax rates despite being both temporary and essential.
This past session in Missouri 9 bills were introduced that would reduce or eliminate the sales tax on both feminine hygiene products and diapers. Although most bills enjoyed bi-partisan support, none emerged from committee for vote, restricted by the republican super-majority.
The Missouri Department of Revenue used Census data to estimate the total impact of a tax exemption on feminine hygiene products alone being between $89,202,965 and $210,826,336.
A bill reducing the corporate tax rate, however, DID pass.
The fiscal note for the bill estimates it would reduce state revenues by at least $884 million when fully implemented in 2029. (https://missouriindependent.co....)
If you want to learn more about Honor Moon, here’s a link to their website:
https://www.honormoonlfk.org/home
Below is a graphic with QR codes for organizations throughout the KC metro area who help with individuals experiencing period poverty.
