The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill today to require the state prison system and county jails to provide feminine hygiene products for incarcerated women.

The sponsor, Rep. Rolanda Hollis, D-Birmingham, said she has heard from family members and friends of women at Tutwiler Prison for Women and women in county jails that they have had difficulty obtaining the products and have resorted to making their own.

“This is 2019,” Hollis said. “And for most women, we already have it. And to be in a position where you cannot get what you need, to me, it’s not right, it’s unfair, it’s unsanitary. As we think of this as something for every day, this is something that should be required and will be required because of the need.”

Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Horton said the ADOC has had a policy in place since 2015 ensuring that hygiene products are available to female inmates.

Horton said sanitary napkins, tampons and toilet paper are available in unlimited supplies to all women in ADOC facilities. Horton said ADOC Deputy Commissioner for Women’s Services Wendy Williams oversees the program and is unaware of any inmate grievances.

A 2014 report by the U.S. Department of Justice about sexual abuse of Tutwiler inmates said feminine hygiene products were not adequately provided and that some inmates resorted to bartering, including submitting to unwanted sexual advances, to obtain the products.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the ADOC reached a settlement on improvements at Tutwiler in 2015. It included a requirement to provide feminine hygiene products at no cost to inmates.

Alabama and national politics.