On February 22, record-breaking snowfall closed schools, delayed flights and created the perfect powder day at ski resorts of the Wasatch Front. But that’s not what that day was meant for. February 22 was supposed to be a day that Utah made a different kind of history.
No matter. Plows double-timed. Eventually skiers went back to work and children back to school, and the gubernatorial press conference scheduled for that date took place eight days delayed, on March 2.
It was that day that Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, along with The Policy Project, announced that Utah would indeed make history, becoming the first state to offer free period products in all state executive branch buildings.
The specificity of that executive order, to place period products in state buildings, is no small matter. An estimated 1,698 restrooms will now have complimentary products, nearly 1,000 of those restrooms are used by the general public who visit those buildings.
And, believe it or not, historically menstruation has not been considered a topic for the halls of Utah’s Capitol — or any other state capitol for that matter. Despite periods being a biological occurrence necessary in the process of giving life to all of us — and one that half of the population experiences.
And despite the fact that policy from the halls of every state capitol, governs and assists many other bodily functions — from the provision of toilet paper in bathrooms to drinking fountains in halls.
I personally was baptized into policy work by a belief in the need for menstrual policy. I’ll never forget four years ago, walking the enormous, echoey halls of the Capitol for the first time, on a mission to share how period products were a necessity, just like toilet paper. I sweat profusely in my legislative meetings and my voice cracked repeatedly when I testified in committee hearings.
But people listened. And people did something about it.
In 2022, the Utah Legislature recognized that one in four of our teens can’t afford period products. They passed House Bill 162 “Period Products in Schools,” a mandate that made history. Utah became the first state in the nation to provide free period products in every kindergarten through 12th grade public and charter school in all girls’ and all-gender bathrooms.
This year, more than 337,000 students have been impacted by that policy.
And possibly better than that, the news from our Capitol is spreading. We have worked with advocates in Idaho, Alabama, New Mexico and Georgia on similar bills in those states. Utah is leading the way.
And not just in schools.
Our organization is piloting the “Period Positive Workplace” initiative — a global effort to make period products freely available in workplaces, and the results are astounding.
Morgan Stanley, from its office here in South Jordan, worked to ensure that all of their Utah properties had complimentary period products. The Utah effort catalyzed the firm to examine global offices — ultimately resulting in the company offering free period products to their 68,000 employees across 41 countries.
An effort that started right here in little old Utah.
And Utah’s cities, counties, prisons, universities and homeless shelters do, or are beginning to, offer free period products, just like they offer toilet paper, in their bathrooms.
The most important and most significant part of this trend, is that it is concretely changing the lives of individual women, girls and menstruators in our state. It is allowing for greater productivity in the workplace and greater dignity for the worker. It’s positively affecting public health outcomes, educational outcomes and mental health outcomes for half of our population. And any policy that affects half of a population, in reality affects us all.
Offering free period products is improving the lived experience of all Utahns.
It’s been said that girls dream of fairy tales — castles, crowns and dresses.
But I think what women dream of is exactly what happened in the Utah capitol on March 2. We dream of an audience swathed in pink — the color that has come to represent periods. We dream of the power of good and the belief that good and truth will indeed win. And we dream of locking arms with each other, and our brothers, and of making history.
Maybe the snowstorm that delayed the press conference was fortuitous because March is Women’s History Month. And it’s Utah’s turn to once again make menstrual history. Here in our state. Here in our nation. As Utah becomes the first state to offer free period products in state buildings.
Emily Bell McCormick
Emily Bell McCormick is the founder and president of The Policy Project, a non-profit organization that works to strengthen communities by implementing healthy policy. She and her husband live in Salt Lake City with their five children.