A Devastating Blow to Women’s Health

Here’s how you can help.

Edited 4/25/25: I’m happy to report that funding for the WHI has been reinstated!

Here’s a not-so-fun fact: Nearly all medical research prior to 1993 excluded women.

Our fluctuating hormones were considered “confounding factors” (i.e. factors that would skew results) and so nearly all research was done using men. But as we know, women are not small men which means there were - and still are - enormous gaps in research-based knowledge when it comes to women’s health.

Thankfully, the inclusion of women in research became policy at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1989 and in 1993 it became law. This new law meant that both women and minorities could no longer be excluded from clinical research simply for convenience - any exclusion had to be clinically relevant.

In 1991, the NIH launched the Women’s Health Initiative, or WHI for short. This historic and highly rigorous research study was - in large part - meant to help close the gap in women’s health research.

The primary goal of the Women’s Health Initiative was to look at the leading causes of death and disability in postmenopausal women. More than 160,000 women have participated in the WHI over the last 30 years, and 42,000 women are currently enrolled.

The data these women provide has given us valuable insight into hormones, heart disease, dementia, stroke, cancer, osteoporosis, mental health, and other factors related to aging.

Approximately 2400 research papers have been published from findings related to the WHI and those findings have directly impacted women’s health worldwide for decades. And the research is on-going - we still have so much we can learn from the 42,000 women currently enrolled.

In a devastating blow to women’s health, the NIH announced on Tuesday that funding for the Women’s Health Initiative is being gutted by Health and Human Services and DOGE. Given that we currently have 55 million postmenopausal women in the US and that the WHI has had enormous impact on the understanding and prevention of chronic disease, you’d think it would be a priority of HHS to make sure the WHI keeps running.

Which is why we need to let them know that this critical research initiative needs to continue to be fully funded with approximately $10 million annually, which is basically pennies in terms of government budget line items.

Here’s how you can help:

• Call or email your representatives and ask them to work to secure adequate funding for the NIH and the Women’s Health Initiative specifically. I’ve provided a script you can use at the end of this email.

• Send a letter to Health and Human Services asking HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. to reinstate funding for the Women’s Health Initiative. You can send general mail to HHS to this address:

  200 Independence Avenue, S.W.

  Room 509F HHH Bldg.

  Washington, D.C. 20201

• Spread the word. Share this email with people in your community who care about women’s health and/or post about it on social media - I’ve created an Instagram post you can share to your IG stories if you feel so inclined.

I’ll wrap up this newsletter with a quote from the book Democracy in Retrograde that totally changed how I feel about civic engagement:

“We believe that civic engagement is a form of self-care. Making your voice heard by your elected representatives and becoming engaged in your community are fundamental assertions of self-worth and self-esteem. In a democratic society, this is how you say, I have a voice and the right to use it, and my contributions and beliefs matter.”

So let’s all stand up and remind our communities, representatives and political leaders that we matter. Women’s health matters, and women’s health research matters. And maybe - just maybe - we can continue to glean insights from this landmark research initiative that has served the women of the world for the last 30 years.

xo, Rebecca

P.S. Interested in advocating for the WHI but aren’t sure what to say? I wrote a short script that you can adapt as needed:

Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m a constituent from [CITY, STATE]. My address is [leave full address so that your comment can be recorded].

(If you want a call back or reply via email, make sure you leave contact info and indicate that you would like a staffer to reply.)

I’m calling to urge [NAME OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL HERE] to oppose funding cuts to vital NIH research, and particularly the Women’s Health Initiative. This landmark research study has provided important research findings on the prevention of chronic disease for the last 30 years, and continues to be an important tool for rigorous scientific research in aging Americans.

The Women’s Health Initiative aligns with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s goals to combat chronic illness. It would be an enormous shame and waste of valuable resources to cancel this vital research initiative that clearly furthers the Secretary’s goals for the health and wellbeing of American citizens.

Thank you for your time and consideration.