A bill that would fund free menstrual products being available in public school bathrooms has been moved closer to approval by New Mexico lawmakers.
House Bill 134 was approved earlier this week and sent to the New Mexico Senate for debate, despite concerns about the impact of providing free menstrual products in both girls' and boys' restrooms.
The bill is intended to ensure that any student who needs menstrual products can access them. That includes transgender students who use boys’ restrooms. Some legislators believe the products should be kept out of the hands of kids who don’t need them.
State Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park) supports making the products accessible but suggested that a token system or some other system be used to ensure the products aren’t wasted by kids who don’t need them.
“Kids -- I’m just going to say, in general -- will be kids,” Lord told the House, according to KRQE News. “They’re going to do stupid things with these. I just see further humiliation and further bullying" if the products get into the wrong hands.
The bill requires that the menstrual products be available in at least one boys' bathroom in each middle, junior, secondary and high school. Should the bill become law, New Mexico would join California, Delaware, Maine, Utah, New York, Nevada and other states with similar laws, according to the Legislative Finance Committee.
Now the bill heads to the New Mexico Senate for further scrutiny.