(Updated) For now, Florida student-athletes don’t have to share menstrual details. It could change

Critics were concerned that, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, students’ medical information could be used in criminal prosecutions. Others argued that making the questions mandatory was part of the state’s attempt to roll back transgender rights.

The Palm Beach Post found that a national form — developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and used by more than a dozen other states — had more privacy protections than the Florida one. The biggest difference is who has access to the information. The national form explicitly states that the portion about athletes' medical histories — including their menstrual history — should not be given to schools and should instead be kept with their physicians. 

Florida diverges from this guidance by requiring that all answers be submitted to school officials. Craig Damon, executive director of the state’s high school athletic association, told the Post this allows schools to "‘provide any necessary medical information’ to a health care worker who is helping a sick or injured student." 

The Post investigation found that athletic associations in 40 states and the District of Columbia require student athletes to submit all pages of their forms to their schools. Of those, 34 states include detailed questions about menstrual history. The Post reported that 10 states, including Democratic-leaning California and Republican-leaning North Dakota, specifically instruct athletes not to turn in medical history information to their schools.

Some physicians say the information is important and could help identify disorders that put athletes at greater risk for injury, but doctors disagree about with whom it should be shared. 

Dr. Thresia Gambon, a Miami-Dade pediatrician and president of Florida’s chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told the Miami Herald that although menstrual history can help doctors evaluate a student athlete’s health, that information, along with other medical questions on the form, should be kept confidential between the student and their health care provider.

A Twitter post claims that female student athletes in Florida "need to provide their schools with detailed information about their periods."

This lacks important context. A state committee has recommended that students submit the information, but the proposal has not been voted on or implemented. The Florida High School Athletic Association’s board of directors will consider the proposal at the end of February. 

The questions about menstrual history are already included on required forms but are marked optional. 

The statement is partially accurate. Female athletes are already being asked these questions, and a proposal is on the table to make answering them mandatory. But the claim omits that the requirement hasn’t been implemented and that the questions, although currently optional, aren’t new. 

We rate it Half True.