Last week, we were joined by over 75 activists from all over Massachusetts for the 4th Annual Rally to End Period Poverty! The I AM Bill (H. 534/S. 1381), which would make tampons and pads free in all schools, shelters, and incarcerated facilities statewide, was recently voted favorably out of the Public Health Committee and moved to the Senate Ways and Means Committee!
We rallied to emphasize the urgency around passing this bill and call on the Senate Ways and Means committee to bring the bill to a vote on the Senate floor this calendar year.
Activists spoke truth to power about their experiences with period poverty and why legislators need to ACT NOW to pass the I AM Bill. The lineup included:
- Senator Julian Cyr, Senate Chair of the Public Health Committee
- Senator Patricia D. Jehlen, Lead Sponsor of the I AM Bill
- Representative Sam Montaño
- Alison LeBlanc, Executive Director of the Child Health Equity Center
- Leslie Credle, Founder of Justice for Housing
- Bria Gadsden, Menstrual Equity Advocate
- Akila Senthilkumar, High School student from Easton
- Nesreen Ourdyl, Center for Supporting Immigrant Organizing
- Carina Lopez, Interim Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement
- Dr. Aaron Kala, Adolescent Medicine Fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital
Check out the pictures below, and be sure to call and email your State Senators and Representatives to urge them to co-sponsor the I AM bill!
