Since the beginning of time, periods happen whether we want them to or not. We’ve had everything from from pads to tampons. But a problem has come up in the government with our hygiene products. The government has decided to place a sales tax on tampons because they believe that tampons are a luxury item rather than a necessity.  People have been in a nonstop uproar. Why should we be taxed for something that happens naturally? The government decides to tax feminine products but has an outburst when women are bleeding and have nothing to help with that.

Nurse Madelyn stated, “There shouldn’t be a tax on tampons. It’s a basic necessity because you can’t doing anything essential with a pad, and with pads you have worry about leaks and that’s a major health risk. So, no.”

Tampons help people, who are on their periods, do regular things like sports or go swimming. To many, they are better and more convenient than pads. In most nurses’ offices, they carry tampons and pads for the girls who may not have it with them at the time or may not find them available in the machines some restrooms provide.

The outrage on the tampon tax isn’t just about taxing things that we need as women, it’s about equality. Nicole Bracken, a sophomore at Bob Jones High School, said, “I believe that there’s more to the tampon tax uproar than just a tax on tampons. I believe it’s because the government is kind of taking something that we as women need and calling it a luxury, like being a woman and having a period is a luxury…it most definitely is not.”

The government doesn’t understand the importance of tampons or feminine products in general, yet they have the audacity to place a tax on necessity that they believe is a “luxury.” How is that fair? Drew Mixson, a senior at Bob Jones High School, said, “Taxing tampons doesn’t seem fair.” Many women believe that the tax on tampons is cutting into their grocery money, or money that could be used to pay for bills.

Not every state supports the tampon tax. There are about 5 states that do not tax tampons. Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maryland all refused to place a tax on necessary hygiene products. Alaska, Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire, and Delaware don’t have sales taxes on their products including tampons, but for the rest of the states, aside from New York, they support the tax on tampons. As for New York, they supported the tax up until April of 2016 and then decided to abolish the tax for the state.

Tampons have been and probably will always be vital to the health and safety of people all over the world, so why charge people for just existing?