AUSTIN, Texas — Six years of demanding repeal of the “tampon tax” haven’t worked. So Texas activists appear poised to try a new tack — mounting a lawsuit to build pressure on lawmakers.
Opponents of taxing menstrual care products and a silk-stocking Houston law firm have said they’re prepared to go all the way to the state’s highest civil court, if necessary, to seek vindication. Charging state and local sales tax on feminine hygiene products disobeys a uniform-taxation requirement in the Texas Constitution, and it’s pure sex discrimination, they said.
“The tampon tax is an added-on financial barrier” for low-income women already strapped for cash and in some cases unable to afford sanitary napkins, a phenomenon known as “period poverty,” explained Sahar Punjwani.
