Let's Eradicate Period Poverty | Harsna Chahal | TEDxMSU

“Only recently, in this century, have we had more public addressing of period poverty and eliminating biased laws, such as the pink tax, that take advantage of the necessity of menstrual products. Not just in the United States, but in other countries, tackling period poverty has been more apparent this century than ever before.” - Harsna Chahal

After successfully passing the bill on Michigan State University's campus she adjusted her approach to advocate for having free menstrual products in every public restroom in East Lansing and pitched the idea to East Lansing City Council. She introduced bill 57-73 to advocate for the elimination of a sales tax on menstrual hygiene products in the greater East Lansing area. Her efforts have been published in multiple local media outlets such as Spartan Newsroom, WILX10, and The State News. Her talk will be beneficial to anyone who wants to help end period poverty, support students who menstruate, and push lawmakers to enforce more policies to end period poverty. Harsna Chahal is a third-year undergraduate student here at #MSU with a dual-major in Neuroscience and Human Biology and minor in Science, Technology, Environment, and Public Policy (STEPP). During her spring semester as a general assembly representative for ASMSU representing Lyman Briggs College. In the Michigan Legislature, there have been more than a dozen attempts to remove the tax since 2016, but none has moved out of the Tax Policy Committee. She has worked with state representatives, senators, and universities to help get a bill passed that would eliminate the pink tax in the state of Michigan. With help from Pad The Mitten and Mitten Menstruation, two Registered Student Organization on campus, that aided in passing a bill to provide free menstrual hygiene products in all restrooms on MSU’s campus. Outside of school, Harsna helps administer the COVID19 vaccine and interns with Family Counseling and Psychiatry as well as Michigan State University Pediatrics. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx