MPs Introduce Landmark Menstrual Health Legislation As Women's Healthcare Crisis Deepens
A Labour MP has today, 18th March 2025, introduced a new Menstrual and Gynaecological Health Bill in the House of Commons, in what campaigners are calling a pivotal moment for women's healthcare in England.
Abena Oppong-Asare brought the bill forward under the Ten Minute Rule, which allows MPs to make a brief speech in favour of proposed legislation before seeking the House's approval to proceed. The bill would make provision for the teaching of menstrual and gynaecological health in schools.
The move comes amid mounting pressure on the Government to act.
A report by the Women and Equalities Committee described it as a "national scandal" that nearly half a million women are on gynaecology waiting lists, despite effective treatments being available in primary and community care. The inquiry found that women's health concerns are frequently dismissed, painful procedures are often conducted without adequate pain relief, and schools are increasingly under-resourced to support menstrual health.
The bill builds on recent changes to the school curriculum. The new Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum now includes a requirement for schools to teach about menstrual and gynaecological health — a development welcomed as a potentially vital first step towards increased understanding and better support for girls' menstrual wellbeing. That curriculum is due to be implemented from September 2026, though concerns remain about whether teachers are adequately prepared to deliver it.
Evidence heard by MPs suggested that teaching the menstrual health elements of the curriculum was often viewed as a low-status task, with responsibility frequently given to the least experienced teachers, who may be underprepared.
The bill also arrives against a backdrop of stark data on the wider costs of period poverty. More than one-third of women in the UK sometimes struggle to afford basic menstrual products, while nearly 40 percent have been forced to reduce spending on essentials such as food, utilities, or transport to cope with menstrual costs. Nearly half of employed women report that their periods interfere with their ability to work effectively.
On the medical side, the Government has announced that menstrual problems — which may indicate endometriosis or fibroids — will be among the first nine conditions available for referral through NHS Online from 2027, a new digital service designed to give women access to specialist gynaecological care from home, wherever they live in the country.
Separately, Parliament's Petitions Committee has agreed to debate a petition calling for statutory menstrual leave for people with endometriosis and adenomyosis, scheduled for 13th April. The Government has so far resisted that specific measure, but the broader legislative and political momentum around women's reproductive health appears to be growing.
Campaigners say the Ten Minute Rule Bill, while unlikely to become law on its own, signals the direction of travel and piles further pressure on ministers to include stronger commitments in the Government's forthcoming renewed Women's Health Strategy for England.
Source: Parliament TV
