The “tampon tax” amounts to sizable revenue for states, since women spend an average of $70-$100 annually on menstrual products; California collects over $20 million from such taxes. Yet, like periods themselves, these figures went undiscussed. In a recent live interview with YouTube star Ingrid Nilsen, President Obama copped to the fact that prior to her question about why 40 states impose sales tax on tampons and sanitary pads, he hadn’t been aware that they do.

“I suspect it’s because men were making the laws,” he said.

Now, women are attempting to re-make them. Grace Meng, a Democratic congresswoman from New York, proposed a congressional bill to amend the tax-code classification of tampons, pads, and menstrual cups to include them in Flexible Spending Account allowances. Earlier this month, California assemblywomen Cristina Garcia and Ling Ling Chang introduced a measure that would eradicate the tax on feminine hygiene products by reclassifying them as medical necessities. Ohio has introduced a similar bill, and this week, Utah and Virginia followed suit; if approved, these states would join New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota, which have already done away with the tax.

It’s a popular move, according to a petition from change.org entitled “No Tax on Tampons: Stop Taxing our Periods! Period.” The petition, spearheaded by Cosmopolitan magazine and Jennifer Weiss-Wolf of the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law, has collected over 43,000 of its intended 50,000 signatures since going live in October.

The volume of support for the petition comes as no surprise to Weiss-Wolf. “There’s so much attention now being paid to what it means to be a person who menstruates without the ability to access or afford the products you need—what it does to your health, what does to your psyche, what it does to your standing as a citizen,” she tells CityLab.

It’s a recognition, she says, that began at the community level.

Make a Racket MLK Day for women of @covenant_house. Assembly of kits 6-9pm at Church of the Epiphany. RSVP weracket@gmail.com #menstrualrevolution #gloriasteinem #freeperiods #periods A photo posted by Margo Seibert (@margo_seibert) on Jan 16, 2016 at 1:47pm PST

Last January, teenage sisters Emma and Quinn Joy of South Orange, New Jersey, launched Girls Helping Girls. Period to collect feminine hygiene products for women in need after learning, while volunteering at a local food pantry, that such items were not covered by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP).

Weiss-Wolf read about their drive on Facebook; her own research into the subject subsequently culminated in an article picked up by The New York Times. The column caught the attention of Council Member Ferreras-Copeland, who brought Weiss-Wolf into her Corona, Queens office to discuss the policy reforms that are now forthcoming.