According to Legislation-HB0205, on July 1st, 2021, a bill was signed into Maryland law, requiring each county board of education to ensure that each public school provides menstrual products via dispensers in the restrooms with no cost. You might think it’s about time. But if you really think about it and look into the availability and price of feminine hygiene products, it would make you wonder why this hasn’t been done before.

Feminine products should’ve been free. The prices of pads and tampons range from $6–$12, which is highly expensive for something you need, right? So why do women have to pay all this money for menstruation products for something they didn’t ask for? I asked fellow 10th grade student, Maleeka Ali, if period products should be free. “Yes, period products should be free in public places. What if I’m in a public restroom and I don’t have a pad and nobody else is in the bathroom? Then what do I do?” she says. 

At the same time, condoms are free everywhere. You can get free condoms from anywhere, but free pads or tampons are usually hard to find (which is crazy since they’re around the same price). On top of that, according to The Basic Facts About Women in Poverty-Center for American Progress, women in the United States are most likely to live in poverty more than men. So if women are most likely to live in poverty, then that means they can’t really afford the menstrual products that they need.

Overall, feminine hygiene products should be free everywhere. Not just in certain states, but all over the United States. Periods are not a choice, they’re biological. So if women can’t control their bodies, why do we have to pay for highly expensive products that we need?