Senate Judiciary Committee Unanimously Passes Bill to Expand Access to Menstrual Hygiene Products to Women in Custody

April 1, 2019

Denver, CO – The Senate Judiciary Committee today unanimously voted to advance HB19-1224, Free Menstrual Hygiene Products in Custody, a bill sponsored by Senator Faith Winter (D-Westminster) to provide free menstrual hygiene products to women in custody. The bill now heads to the Committee of the Whole with a recommendation that it be placed on the consent calendar.

“Women in custody should not be forced to barter for hygiene products or have to go without,” said Senator Winter. “This bill is about restoring dignity to women in Colorado, and making sure that women are treated with the respect they deserve.”

Currently, state prisons are already required to provide menstrual hygiene products. While some county jails provide limited menstrual hygiene products to people in custody, many still do not. This bill would require local jails, multijurisdictional jails, and municipal jails to provide such products to people in custody at no expense to the people in custody.

HB19-1224 passed the House of Representatives unanimously. For more information about the bill, please visit: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb19-1224.

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