
On Tuesday, November 17, 2020, a Florida Board of Education panel voted down a proposal to require public schools to provide menstrual products to high school athletes in the state. The proposal was put forth by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) and would have required schools to provide free menstrual products to female athletes in response to Title IX complaints reported to the Office of Civil Rights.
The proposal was meant to ensure access to menstrual products, which are a necessity for many female athletes, regardless of socio-economic status. It also would have provided access to free menstrual products regardless of a student’s ability to pay.
The board ultimately decided to reject the proposal, citing concerns over its funding and implementation. They argued that it was an issue that should be addressed at the county or school district level, rather than at the state level.
The decision sparked criticism from some civil rights advocates and students, who argued that access to menstrual products is a basic human right and that the state should be doing more to ensure it.
According to NPRU’s coverage of the issue, the episode “reinforced the need for more education and dialogue around menstrual health, equity and access for student athletes — and for everyone in the state of Florida.”
In the face of such criticism, the FDOE has pledged to continue to examine ways to ensure access to menstrual products for student athletes, as well as to look into ways to increase education and dialogue around menstrual health and equity.
The ultimate outcome of this episode is unclear, but one thing is certain — the discussion around access to menstrual products is far from over in the state of Florida.

The part of the kind that offers with menstrual cycles and experienced been optional. The Florida Substantial College Athletic Association’s board of administrators voted to eliminate the queries about high faculty athletes’ menstrual heritage.
Clara-Sophia Daly/Miami Herald/Tribune News Support through Getty Photos
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Clara-Sophia Daly/Miami Herald/Tribune Information Company through Getty Pictures
The part of the form that deals with menstrual cycles and experienced been optional. The Florida Higher School Athletic Association’s board of administrators voted to take away the queries about significant university athletes’ menstrual record.
Clara-Sophia Daly/Miami Herald/Tribune Information Service by means of Getty Images
The Florida High University Athletic Association’s board of administrators has voted 14-2 to take away concerns about superior university athletes’ menstrual record from a needed health and fitness type for participation in high faculty athletics.
Thursday’s crisis conference concentrated on the debate all around menstrual cycle information. But in a less-talked over transform to the necessities for Florida athletes, the newly adopted form asks college students to checklist their “sex assigned at beginning.” The earlier model questioned only for “sexual intercourse.”
The vote arrives soon after weeks of controversy surrounding questions on the medical sort, which is ordinarily filled out by a health practitioner and submitted to educational institutions. The board accepted a advice by the association’s director to take out the concerns, which questioned for details including the onset of an athlete’s period of time and the date of that person’s very last menstrual cycle.
Through an emergency assembly, the association’s attorney go through general public reviews into the report for about an hour. The feedback overwhelmingly opposed demanding athletes to report all those aspects to university athletic officials, citing privateness considerations.
The discussion comes at a time of heightened worry all-around reproductive rights in Florida and all-around the place, next the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Some members of the community also lifted fears that these types of data could be employed to discriminate versus transgender athletes.
The new type will become efficient for the 2023-24 college calendar year.