SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — In 2022, the Utah Legislature unanimously passed H.B. 162, mandating that public and charter schools provide free period products in girls’ and unisex restrooms for grades K-12. A recent survey by The Policy Project shows that two years since its passing, the bill is having positive impacts.

The Policy Project has been lobbying for menstrual equity since 2018. The Utah-based nonprofit led the effort to pass H.B. 162, and on Tuesday it released the findings of an impact report where Utah high school students were surveyed.

The findings show that access to period products is positively affecting school attendance, with 55.7% of survey respondents saying they were able to participate in school and activities that were missed previously due to access to period products.

Additionally, the report found that there’s a strong correlation between providing period products in schools and reducing negative menstruation stigma, with 75.8% of survey respondents saying their comfort level in talking about menstruation increased.

“The Policy Project is committed not only to the passage of the bill but also to its successful implementation,” Emily Bell McCormick, founder and president of The Policy Project, said in the news release. “Thanks to the collaborative and courageous efforts of legislators, donors, and community members, the implementation of HB 162 has been both successful and comprehensive—a type of execution not seen in other states with similar legislation.”

According to The Policy Project report, nearly 1,400 students from 20 of Utah’s 29 counties responded to the survey, with no single school representing more than 10% of the survey.

Per the report, an estimated 337,000 menstruating students were impacted by H.B. 162 during the 2022-2023 school year. Additionally, the report stated that the law is expected to help more than 1.3 million students by 2065.

“This survey response was incredible, and the proof of concept is there,” Kristin Andrus, community champion of The Policy Project, said. “Although there is still room for growth in the realm of equity and empowerment for girls, it is safe to say that providing access to period products in schools is really moving the needle.”

According to The Policy Project, the responses to the survey show that H.B. 162 is fulfilling its primary goals, which were to enhance educational outcomes across the state by “increasing productivity and school attendance outcomes” and to “destigmatize menstruation through normalized access to period products.”

Nationally, a 2021 study by Thinx & PERIOD found that one in five teens in the U.S. have struggled to afford period products or were not able to purchase them at all, and more than four in five students in the U.S. missed class or knew someone who did due to lack of access to period products. It also was reported that a majority of teens said they felt shame, self-consciousness and embarrassment around their periods.

One year after the passing of H.B. 162, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and advocates with The Policy Project announced that all state executive branch buildings would now have free period products, marking Utah as the first state in the nation to make period products free in state buildings.

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM | Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY — Three hikers died over the weekend in suspected heat-related cases at state and national parks in Utah, including a father and daughter who got lost on a strenuous hike in Canyonlands National Park in triple-digit temperatures.

The daughter, 23, and her father, 52, sent a 911 text alerting dispatchers that they were lost and had run out of water while hiking the 8.1 miles (13 kilometers) Syncline Loop, described by the National Park Service as the most challenging trail in the Island in the Sky district of the southeast Utah park. The pair set out Friday to navigate steep switchbacks and scramble through boulder fields with limited trail markers as the air temperature surpassed 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).

Park rangers and a helicopter crew with the Bureau of Land Management began their search for the lost hikers in the early evening Friday, but found them already dead. The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office identified them on Monday as Albino Herrera Espinoza and his daughter, Beatriz Herrera, of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Due to the jagged terrain, safety officials used a helicopter to airlift the bodies out of the park and to the state medical examiner on Saturday morning, according to the sheriff’s office. Their deaths are being investigated as heat-related by the local sheriff and the National Park Service.

Later Saturday, first responders in southwest Utah responded to a call about two hikers “suffering from a heat related incident” at Snow Canyon State Park, which is known for its lava tubes, sand dunes and a canyon carved from red and white Navajo Sandstone.

A multi-agency search team found and treated two hikers who were suffering from heat exhaustion. While they were treating those individuals, a passing hiker informed them of an unconscious person nearby. First responders found the 30-year-old woman dead, public safety officials said.

Her death is being investigated by the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department. She has not been identified publicly.

Tourists continue to flock to parks in Utah and other southwestern states during the hottest months of the year, even as officials caution that hiking in extreme heat poses serious health risks.

Three hikers have died in the past month at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, where summer temperatures on exposed parts of the trails can exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius). A 50-year-old man from Texas died on July 7 while trying to reach the South Rim. Weeks earlier, a 69-year-old man collapsed and died while hiking in the sweltering heat, and a 41-year-old who had spent the night at the bottom of the canyon was found dead not far from his campsite. Temperatures deep within the Grand Canyon can rise into the triple digits during the summer.

A motorcyclist died earlier this month in Death Valley National Park in eastern California, and another motorcyclist was taken to a hospital for severe heat illness. Both were part of a group that rode through the Badwater Basin area amid scorching weather.

The air temperature in Death Valley reached at least 125 degrees Fahrenheit (52 degrees Celsius) for nine consecutive days July 4-12 — the park’s longest streak at or above that temperature since the early 1900s, the National Park Service announced Monday. Now, parts of the park are experiencing a multiday power outage triggered by a thunderstorm as temperatures continue to linger just above 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Elsewhere on Monday, authorities said a 61-year-old man was found dead inside his motor home in eastern Washington state. The man likely died Wednesday when the temperature in the area reached 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius), Franklin County Coroner Curtis McGary said.

Authorities also suspected heat in the death of an 81-year-old man Saturday in Oregon but have released no further details. His death brings the state’s tally of suspected heat-related deaths to 17 since the July 4 weekend, The Oregonian/Oregonlive.com reported.