Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Thursday, January 15, Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) Reproductive Health Care Task Force Co-Chair & Liaisons Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Kelly Morrison (MN-03), and Judy Chu (CA-28) led 23 members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus in a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy calling for increased investments in women’s health research. In the letter, the Members recognized the FDA’s recent decision to remove the black box warning from hormone therapy and specifically urged for increased federal investment in menopause research and education.

Menopause is a natural stage of life that affects millions of women across the country, yet it remains under-researched, misunderstood, and often dismissed. Too many women struggle to access accurate information and evidence-based care, leading to unnecessary suffering and health disparities. Expanding research and education is critical to addressing these long-standing gaps.

In their letter, the Members acknowledged the FDA for its recent decision to remove the black box warning from hormone therapy.

“We urge HHS and the FDA to continue advancing rigorous research on hormone therapy’s safety and effectiveness, particularly as your agencies update product labeling and risk communication.”

The Members also stressed the importance of ensuring access to quality, individualized menopause treatments.

“It is important to emphasize that menopause research is not just important as it relates to women’s symptoms but necessary to address their health as they age. It should continue to be the priority of agencies to empower clinicians to treat patients based on their unique risk factors and individualized treatment objectives. They are necessary safeguards to ensure all patients across age, race, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and health status can benefit from these therapies without avoidable harm.”

The Members concluded their letter by highlighting the critical opportunity to strengthen and expand federally supported research in women’s health, while ensuring equitable access to therapies guided by science.

“Sustained investment in women’s health science has been shown to improve quality of care when women’s health concerns are no longer treated as niche or secondary concerns. Defunding or weakening women’s health research initiatives, particularly those focused on menopause, would reverse recent progress and perpetuate the pattern in which women’s symptoms are neglected. This dynamic has especially serious consequences for women of color, who already face higher burdens of disease and greater barriers to care.”

The Democratic Women’s Caucus remains committed to fighting for access to quality, affordable health care and advancing policies that prioritize women’s health research. In April, DWC Policy Task Force Co-Chairs Sydney Kamlager Dove (CA-37) and Deborah Ross (NC-02) led 30 members in a letter to President Trump calling on him to stop his persistent attacks on women’s health research.

Read the full letter here.

In addition to letter leads Ayanna Pressley, Kelly Morrison, and Judy Chu, the letter was signed by Shontel Brown, Debbie Dingell, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Yvette Clarke, Teresa Leger Fernández, Pramila Jayapal, Sylvia Garcia, Veronica Escobar, Laura Friedman, Chrissy Houlahan, Adelita Grijalva, Melanie Stansbury, Rashida Tlaib, Hillary Scholten, LaMonica McIver, Gwen Moore, Lori Trahan, Deborah Ross, Jan Schakowsky, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Jill Tokuda, Frederica Wilson, and Bonnie Watson Coleman.

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