Menstrual equity isn’t just a women’s issue—it’s a human issue.

The #MenForMenstrualEquity campaign invites male legislators to publicly pledge their support for menstrual equity by co-sponsoring key legislation aimed at ensuring equitable access to menstrual products.

On March 7th, in honor of International Women’s Day, hundreds of feminists came together at Simmons University to celebrate Action in Unity.

This is the beginning of the 194th Legislative session, and many of our endorsed bills from last session have been refiled as well as new bills introduced. This legislative session, we’ve endorsed 81 bills, which includes 36 newly introduced bills and 45 refiled bills. Given the beginning of a new legislative session and the introduction of exciting new bills, we wanted to share an update on the endorsed legislation of our feminist agenda. 

Wow—what an incredible Menstrual Equity Advocacy Day! Over 100 of you showed up, spoke out, and took action, and we are so grateful to each and every one of you for your dedication to this movement.

 Mass NOW is thrilled to announce that we have been awarded $947,485 over five years from the Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging Fund for our groundbreaking program, Bleeding for Change: Advancing Menstrual Health Equity. This initiative is a critical part of our efforts to address systemic barriers to health and disrupt institutional and structural racism in Massachusetts, in partnership with the Department of Public Health, the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA), and Health Resources in Action.

Mass NOW has had a productive year fighting for a feminist democracy. This year, Mass NOW expanded our reach and hired 6 local Menstrual Equity Community Organizers from Western Mass to Cape Cod, distributing over 200,000 menstrual products to over 40 community organizations. In February Mass NOW brought together 100+ young people for an Advocacy Day at the State House where we rallied and encouraged legislators to support bills that support more working parents running for office, increase access to menstrual products, salary range transparency and promoted access to midwifery care and out of hospital birth options.

We’re thrilled to welcome our new staff member: Katherine!

Katherine is soon to be graduate of UMass Amherst, graduating with a degree in public policy and minor in Portuguese. She’s interned at the Essex Women’s Commission, MA Executive Office of Education and the MA Caucus of Women Legislators, and has served as a mentor through Project Yes for the last 7 years where she’s mentored over 200 young people and led workshops on women’s health. We’re thrilled to welcome her to our Community Organizer team to amplify our work distributing products and leading menstrual health workshops around the state. Swipe for Katherine’s full bio!

On Saturday, December 7th, Mass NOW members, board, and staff came together for the 56th Annual State Conference at the YWCA of Worcester.

It was wonderful to be in community with so many intersectional feminists doing the work every day in Massachusetts at Mass NOW’s Holiday Party on December 5th at Estella Restaurant in Downtown Crossing.

The Economic Development Bond Bill has passed both chambers of the MA Legislature with Campaign Funds for Child Care language! 🎉

The bill will now head to Gov. Maura Healey who is expected to sign it. This will bring Massachusetts in line with federal guidelines and 36 other states (plus Washington D.C.) that have approved the use of Campaign Funds for Childcare.

We are so thankful for all our partners for getting this bill passed. Thank you and congratulations to all!

We're with you. Devastated, angry, and more driven than ever to fight for our intersectional feminist agenda.

🗳️🇺🇸 Use your voice and vote! But no matter the election results, Mass NOW will continue to fight for intersectional feminist justice as we have for over 50 years.

Find your local voting station and sample ballot box at sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA

If you’re struggling with election stress, visit tinyurl.com/MassElectionStress