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Florida bill would limit teaching on menstruation

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Agence France Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Photo by cottonbro studio" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/overseas/03/20/mens.jpg"/><figcaption><em>Photo by cottonbro studio</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>WASHINGTON, United States - Florida lawmakers are considering a draft law to strengthen state control over sex education that its sponsor says would ban any instruction in schools about menstrual cycles before the sixth grade.</p><p>The proposal comes as Florida&#x27;s Republican-dominated legislature, backed by Governor Ron DeSantis, has already passed a raft of laws limiting discussion in schools of gender and sexuality and reducing the emphasis on diversity in public schools. </p><p>The latest proposal, from Republican Stan McClain, would allow instruction in &quot;acquired immune deficiency syndrome, sexually transmitted diseases, or health education&quot; only in grades six through 12, generally meaning for children aged 12 to 18.</p><p>Girls typically have their first periods between the ages of 10 and 15, but some do so as young as nine.</p><p>&quot;Imagine a little girl in fourth grade, going to the bathroom and finding blood in her panties and thinking that she is dying,&quot; state representative Ashley Gantt, a Democrat, said in a video posted on Instagram. </p><p>&quot;She doesn&#x27;t actually know what&#x27;s going on. And her teacher does not even have the ability to tell her that this is a part of life.&quot;</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cp2ahyqvEhu/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:16px"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:40px;margin-right:14px;width:40px"> </div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:100px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:60px"> </div></div></div><div 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solid transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"> </div></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"> </div></div><div style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cp2ahyqvEhu/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by Ashley V. Gantt (@ganttforflorida)</a></div></div></blockquote><p><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script>When Gantt queried McClain during a subcommittee hearing on whether his proposal would prevent teachers from discussing menstrual cycles with girls younger than 12, he replied repeatedly, &quot;It would.&quot;</p><p>He defended the bill as a way to make sex education more uniform statewide and give parents more leverage over curricula, and later said he was open to amending it, media reports said.</p><p>The bill passed the subcommittee by a 13-to-5 vote. </p><p>Planned Parenthood decried the legislation, saying it would take &quot;total control from local school districts in approving sex ed curriculum and give it to the State Department of Education&quot; while presenting a &quot;reductive and binary view of sex&quot; and stigmatizing LGBTQ students.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/10/06/22/india-menstruation-taboos-are-forcing-girls-out-of-school">India: Menstruation taboos are forcing girls to drop out of school</a></li></ul><p>The policy and political director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, Annie Filkowski, condemned the legislation as &quot;absurd.&quot;</p><p>&quot;This bill shines a bright light on Florida&#x27;s political leaders&#x27; perpetual thirst for power,&quot; she said in a statement, calling it ridiculous to ban young students from discussing periods with their teachers.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><div><strong>bbk/sw/dw</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1618288" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Florida lawmakers are considering a draft law to strengthen state control over sex education that its sponsor says would ban any instruction in schools about menstrual cycles before the sixth grade.