The results are in and 57 percent of the 165 people voting in this week’s poll support the idea behind a bill introduced in Michigan that would exempt tampons from the state sales tax. I was in the majority on this one, which doesn’t often happen. My view is similar to a New York Supreme Court justice who wrote, “There’s no way these products would be taxed if men had to use them.” (There are actually a whole lot of things that wouldn’t happen if they happened to men but that’s a story for another day.)
That said, I also see the wisdom behind what commenter Julie Seagraves said: “Feminine hygiene products are relatively expensive, especially for women who are economically disadvantaged. I’ve worked in a nonprofit adolescent health clinic in Ypsilanti and know firsthand that there are young women who either can not or will not go to school when they have their periods because they cannot afford feminine hygiene products. That’s really sad; school is where they need to be to get ahead in life. They can’t afford NOT to be there. So making feminine hygiene products FREE for women who can’t afford them would really be the best option.”
Here, here.
Tim C says
As the increasingly conservative morphing world evolves, we on the other side of the equation suffer. I detest the Right’s mission to disadvantage women, of any social class, only because their patriarchal dominance is threatened. Thanks Andy for being a voice against that push.