Advocacy

If you haven’t heard, two new bills were introduced in Congress during National Diaper Need Awareness Week, and now we are asking for you to help!

The Duckworth End Diaper Need Act of 2023 (S. 2879) was introduced in the U.S. Senate and the Lee-DeLauro End Diaper Need Act of 2023 (H.R. 5644) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. These bills would create $200 million in funding focused on ending diaper need throughout the U.S.

The Menstrual Equity for All Act (H.R. 3646) was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congresswoman Grace Meng (NY-6) during Period Poverty Awareness Week 2023. The Menstrual Equity for All Act (ME4All) is a comprehensive bill that would expand access to free period products in schools, prisons, shelters and public federal buildings. It would require Medicaid to cover the cost of period supplies, eliminate the tax on period supplies and create a pilot program through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to help families purchase period supplies.

The Period PROUD (Providing Resources for Our Underserved and Disadvantaged) Act (H.R. 4475) was reintroduced by Congressman Sean Casten (IL-6) and Congresswoman Grace Meng (NY-6) on July 6, 2023. The bill would provide funding through the Social Services Block Grant program to establish and expand programs to provide low-income menstruating individuals with access to period supplies and direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Education to develop best practices for school officials to use in discussing menstruation with students.

The National Diaper Bank Network and the Alliance for Period Supplies have launched a letter writing campaign with the goal of securing additional Congressional co-sponsors for the two mentioned bills, and we need your support. In just a few short minutes, you can write your Representative and request that they sign on to these bills that would ensure that individuals have the period supplies they need to thrive.