Maine GOP lawmaker says offering inmates menstrual products make jail a 'country club': report

Rep. Richard Pickett, a Republican state lawmaker in Maine, reportedly said that providing free feminine hygiene products in state correctional facilities would make the jail system seem like "a country club." (Facebook)

A Republican lawmaker in Maine reportedly said that providing free tampons, pads and menstrual cups to those in state prisons would make the system seem like "a country club."

Rep. Richard Pickett on Friday spoke out during a hearing against a bill that would guarantee feminine hygiene products to those in state prisons, according to Alex Acquisto, a reporter with the Bangor Daily News, who tweeted about the hearing.

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"Quite frankly, and I don’t mean this in any disrespect, the jail system and the correctional system was never meant to be a country club," Pickett reportedly said. "They have a right to have these, and they have them. If that wasn’t the case, then I would be supporting the motion, but they do."

The bill states that females in correctional facilities have "a right to comprehensive access to menstrual products, including, but not limited to, sanitary pads, tampons and menstrual cups, provided without charge to the incarcerated person."

Pickett reportedly said the bill is an attempt by lawmakers to "micromanage" the criminal justice system.

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Democratic Rep. Charlotte Warren, who sponsored the bill, responded online, tweeting, "Having access to tampons has never made me feel like I’m hangin’ at the Country Club."

Earlier this month, Warren, according to the Maine Beacon, said that “unrestricted access to menstrual products by incarcerated persons is an issue of human dignity."

State prisons and local jails in Maine aren’t legally required to provide free menstrual products, the news outlet reported. An online handbook for the Maine Correction Center in Windham, for example, states that "feminine hygiene items" must be purchased at the canteen. It also states that the amount of such products inmates can receive is "determined by facility."

Whitney Parrish, of the Maine Women’s Lobby, on Friday voiced support for the bill. She detailed what happens to inmates who have their period while incarcerated.

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“You’re given a limited supply of menstrual products per month, often of low quality due to cost saving, and when you run out, you’re out," Parrish said. "You may have no money to go to commissary, and if you do, you may have to weigh that purchase against other necessities, like making phone calls to your children or attorney. You are forced to make the impossible decision of constructing your own menstrual products, using anything from clothing or notebook paper in place of a tampon.”

Pickett did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

Source: Fox News Politics