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Outrage after Florida high schools ask female athletes to disclose their menstrual history in health form

Many users on social media expressed their horror regarding the move that can give public institutions access to private and medical information of the students

FLORIDA: High schools in Florida are now asking female student-athletes to report their menstrual history via a form before participating in school sports. Calling it “anti-choice”, doctors, parents, and campaigners have blasted this move by the high schools for asking the athletes to disclose information about their periods in a section labeled “female athletes only”.

Dr Michael Haller, a pediatric endocrinologist based in Gainesville, told LGBTQNation that he doesn't see why school districts needed access to that type of information. He said, "It sure as hell will give me pause to fill it out with my kid." The form, which all athletes are required to fill, asks students to report their medical history on things like seizures, allergies, and fainting spells. It also questions athletes about their periods asking five questions, which are optional, starting with “When was your first menstrual period?”, followed by “When was your most recent menstrual period?”, “How much time do you usually have from the start of one period to the start of another?”, “How many periods have you had in the last year?” And the last one asks, “What was the longest time between periods in the last year?”

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A number of people on social media expressed their horror regarding this move that can give public institutions access to their private and medical information. One user slammed the move and said, "Last time I checked, tracking your period wasn’t necessary to play sports. This is a gross invasion of privacy with such high stakes given Florida's 15-week abortion ban & no rape/incest exceptions. We need the My Body, My Data Act to protect this data."

Many continued bashing the schools. Trans activist Alejandra Caraballo wrote, "Florida passed a law to ban transgender athletes. They are now enforcing it by requiring female athletes to track their menstrual cycles and report it to the school and a 3rd party company called Aktivate. This is downright dystopian."

Palm Beach County Democratic Women’s Club President Joan Waitkevicz said, as per LGBTQNation, "There’s been a lot of discussion, even at the level of the White House, about how individuals’ menstrual history should not be widely shared because it could be used to target them in the case of state regulations on abortions. It’s anti-choice and the anti-trans politics rolled into one."

Defending the form

On the other hand, pediatrician Dr Chris Koutures, who was involved in creating the medical form for athletes, said, "I don’t think it was our intent for this information to be shared with anyone else [but doctors]. The bottom line for the coach is: ‘Are they clear or not?'”

Palm Beach County School District also released a statement stating that the students' information would remain private. "The coaches do not review the student-athlete’s medical information and they do not reference the forms on a regular basis. The school’s Athletic Director only checks the physical form for a doctor’s signature and the date of exam to ensure that it is in compliance with state statute," the statement read, as quoted by the outlet.

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