Schiff, Omar push PERIOD bill to ban student menstruation tracking, target DeSantis
Jeremiah Poff
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A trio of House Democrats that included Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) introduced legislation this week that would ban schools from inquiring about a student’s menstrual history.
The “Privacy in Education Regarding Individuals’ Own Data” or the “PERIOD” Act was introduced Thursday by the three lawmakers and would ban federal funding for schools that require female students to disclose their menstrual history for any reason. The lawmakers said it was an effort to stop Republicans who had pushed such efforts.
FLORIDA DITCHES STUDENT-ATHLETE HEALTH QUESTION ABOUT MENSTRUAL CYCLES
The lawmakers cited continued efforts in Florida and Democratic-controlled Colorado to ask student-athletes about their menstrual history as the impetus for the legislation. The group acknowledged that the stated purpose of the requirement was “to help screen for abnormalities in students’ medical histories,” but said that the mandate could be used to “discriminate against transgender students and prohibit them from playing sports.”
“Mandating students turn over their private medical data is a massive and invasive overreach – one that Republican governors and legislatures have proposed as part of their ongoing efforts to dehumanize trans individuals,” Schiff said. “There is absolutely no reason — none — that elected officials and the government should have access to the specific details of a student’s menstrual cycles – even more so when they are a minor. We must put an end to this macabre proposal from Ron DeSantis and others, and protect students’ privacy and medical autonomy.”
Schiff and Omar were joined by Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), who accused the Florida High School Athletic Association of “playing a role in Gov. DeSantis’s appeal to his far-Right base” when it was considering requiring female student-athletes answer questions about their menstrual history in order to be cleared for athletic participation. The association scrapped the proposal during an emergency meeting Thursday, despite a number of professional medical organizations endorsing such questions.
“Requiring students to provide information with respect to their menstrual period would be yet another draconian measure instituted by a state that purports to love a less invasive government,” Cherfilus-McCormick said. “Not even two months into the new year, the state of Florida has banned books in schools, blocked AP African American history courses from being taught in classrooms, and is now attempting to require students to share private health information to play on athletic fields and courts. Tracking a person’s menstrual cycle is an unconscionable violation of a person’s constitutionally protected right to privacy.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, DeSantis spokesman Bryan Griffin said that the governor’s office had not been involved in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s decision-making.
“Incidentally, I believe a question like this is used by most other states across the nation,” he added.