Maryland House passes legislation to allow condoms in school vending machines

Hannah Gaskill, The Baltimore Sun on Feb 21, 2025

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BALTIMORE — To the chagrin of the Republican Party, the Maryland House of Delegates passed legislation Friday to repeal the prohibition of selling condoms in public school vending machines.

“Condoms for kiddies,” Del. Kathy Szeliga, a Baltimore County Republican, said before the bill passed. “This goes too far.”

Sponsored by Del. Nicole Williams, a Prince George’s County Democrat, House Bill 380 would allow contraceptives to be sold in nursery school, preschool, elementary and high school vending machines. It also removes the misdemeanor criminal penalty of $1,000.

The bill does not mandate that schools sell condoms or other contraceptive devices in their vending machines. Individual school systems would be responsible for making those decisions.

“It’s a really simple bill. All it does is remove a criminal penalty,” Williams said on the House floor ahead of Friday’s vote. “It’s not setting policy. It’s not dictating to anyone what they should or should not do, or to any of our school systems. All we’re doing is removing a misdemeanor from our criminal law article.”

The bill passed on a vote of 89-41. It will now receive a hearing in the Senate chamber.

The bill is supported by the Maryland Department of Health. In written testimony, Maryland Health Secretary Dr. Laura Herrera Scott said that research demonstrates that access to condoms in high schools does not instigate increased sexual activity among students but encourages their use among those who are already sexually active.

“Criminal penalties for providing evidence-based contraception create unnecessary barriers that threaten access to an essential public health resource in Maryland,” she wrote. “These penalties perpetuate stigma around contraceptive use and hinder access.”

Ahead of Friday’s vote, Harford County Republican Del. Lauren Arikan was dismayed at the notion that condoms could be sold in places where young children gather to learn. She said the bill is “the kind of stuff that makes swing states go red” and that it “shocks the conscience.”

“Why in the world would someone in a preschool need a condom?” asked Arikan. “People in every possible work of life — every job you can imagine — have sex. And do you know where those people go to get condoms and prophylactics of other types? They go to the CVS like everybody else.”

“Where do all of you go?” she said, motioning to her colleagues in the chamber. “There’s no vending machine condom things out here. Somehow you found them. It’s a miracle.”

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