Florida bill seeks to ban discussion on menstruation in schools before grade six

Lawmakers in Florida are planning to draft a law that would ban school instruction on menstrual cycles before sixth grade. Florida's legislature, dominated by lawmakers from the Republican Party, has already passed several laws that limit discussion of gender and sexuality in public schools.

The latest proposal, outlawing discussion on menstrual cycle in schools before grade six, has come from Stan Mclain. The proposal reportedly says that it would allow discussion and instruction on "acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), sexually transmitted diseases, or health education" only in grades six through 12, generally children aged 12 to 18.

Girls typically have their first periods between the ages of 10 and 15, but some do so as young as nine.

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"Imagine a little girl in fourth grade, going to the bathroom and finding blood in her panties and thinking that she is dying," state representative Ashley Gantt, a Democrat, said in a video posted on Instagram.

"She doesn't actually know what's going on. And her teacher does not even have the ability to tell her that this is a part of life."

During a subcommittee hearing, when McClain was asked by the media whether the proposal would keep teachers from discussing menstrual cycles with girls younger that 12, he replied, "it would"

He made his defence saying that the bill would make sex education more uniform statewide and would give parents more leverage over curricula. He reportedly said later that he was open to amending it.

The bill passed the subcommittee by a 13-to-5 vote.

Planned Parenthood decried the legislation, saying it would take "total control from local school districts in approving sex ed curriculum and give it to the State Department of Education" while presenting a "reductive and binary view of sex" and stigmatising LGBTQ students. The organisation was quoted by AFP.

The policy and political director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, Annie Filkowski, condemned the legislation as "absurd."

"This bill shines a bright light on Florida's political leaders' perpetual thirst for power," she said in a statement as per AFP, calling it ridiculous to ban young students from discussing periods with their teachers.

DeSantis, who is seen as the leading rival to Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has framed such laws as a commonsense pushback to excesses prompted by progressive activism.

But critics say conservative legislatures in Florida and elsewhere are trying to impose their own values on others while curbing free-speech rights and preventing students from having a well-rounded education.

(With inputs from agencies)

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