St. Petersburg, FL.– Women across the nation are outraged with a current tax, being referred as the “tampon tax”, that is currently added to feminine hygiene products.
The next time you go to the store, you may start to notice that a simple box of bandages, condoms, or a bag of men’s razors are exempted from taxes and costing much less than the box of tampons or sanitary pads in your cart.
The problem here is, there is a higher tax being added to feminine products such as pads, tampons, and other hygienic products. Because these items are not a luxury, they should not be taxed. When asked about the tampon tax situation, Louise Chapell, a freshman at USFSP says, “If you had to bleed everyday for a week once a month, how would you feel!? I don’t get a choice!”
In the United States, only five of the 50 states have removed the tampon tax. The five states include: Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and New Jersey.
Image from Fusion.net
Recently, a Florida woman has filed a lawsuit against the state to remove the tax from these products. Carlee Wendell, who runs a non profit organization named FLOW, wants the state to pass a law similar to the one recently passed in New York that will make all feminine hygiene products tax exempt in stores and public places. If she wins the case, the state of Florida will remove the tampon tax and reimburse Florida women for the cost spent on feminine hygiene products bought over the last three years. It may seem like a long stretch, but any form of compensation, mainly the removal of the tax, would be more than enough to make Florida women content. Having a menstrual cycle is not in any way, shape, or form a luxury! Hygiene is and should always be a basic human right. Period.
Image from The Odyssey Online
With love, Her Campus.