GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida High School Athletic Association has changed a draft rule that would have required high school girls to disclose information about their menstrual cycles, according to the organization.
FHSAA is set to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the new draft of an EL2 Pre-Participation Examination form that student-athletes are required to complete before participating in school sports.
The original draft asked the following questions for girls seeking to become student athletes.
- “Have you had a menstrual period?”
- “How old were you when you had your first menstrual period?”
- “When was your most recent menstrual period?”
- “How many periods have you had in the past 12 months?”
According to the form, the medical evaluation would be “completed each year before participating in interscholastic athletic competition or engaging in any practice, tryout, workout, conditioning, or other physical activity.”
Florida state lawmakers sent a letter to the FHSAA on Tuesday to criticize the inclusion of those questions.
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“These new reporting requirements would be highly invasive and no girl should be forced to disclose her bodily functions to someone who is not her mother, father, caretaker, or physician,” the letter reads.
The letter asks FHSAA officials why the questions are being considered and whether students can participate in organized sports without filling out that portion of the form. The lawmakers also urged the FHSAA board of directors to answer by March 7.
However, FHSAA’s Thursday meeting now includes a new version of the proposed form — one without the four questions involving the student-athlete’s menstrual cycle.
“The submission of the full FHSAA EL2 Form to member schools has created concerns and questions from parents, school district administrators, school board members and coaches regarding the health privacy of student-athletes...” FHSAA wrote. “Therefore, this recommendation provides pertinent medical history to the qualified health care practitioner and gives schools the medical authorization necessary for allowing athletic participation while protecting the privacy of the student-athlete.”
Jenn Meale Poggie, mother of a 16-year-old Varsity soccer player, told News 6 that her daughter didn’t take the news well.
“She was moved almost to the point of tears of having to disclose said personal information,” Poggie said.
News 6 has reached out to FHSAA to ask about why the questions were included on the previous version of the draft, though FHSAA has not yet responded.
The new version of the EL2 Form has been attached and can be read at the bottom of this story.
EL2 by Anthony Talcott on Scribd
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