Biden signs executive order aimed at women’s health
Action will increase funding, research
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed an executive order Monday aimed at advancing the study of women’s health by strengthening data collection and providing better funding opportunities for biomedical research while chiding Republicans for having “no clue about the power of women” but saying they’re “about to find out” come November’s election.
Women’s health has long been underfunded and understudied. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the federal government mandated women be included in federally funded medical research; for most of medical history, though, scientific study was based almost entirely on men.
“We still know too little about how to effectively prevent, diagnose and treat a wide array of health conditions in women,” said Dr. Carolyn Mazure, the head of the White House initiative on women’s health.
Today, research often fails to properly track differences between women and men, and does not represent women equally particularly for illnesses more common to them — which Mr. Biden suggested his order would help change.
“To state the obvious, women are half the population and underrepresented across the board. But not in my administration,” the president said, drawing raucous applause at a White House reception marking Women’s History Month.
Mr. Biden said he has long been a believer in the “power of research” to help save lives and get high-quality health care to the people who need it. But the executive order also checks off a political box during an election year when women will be crucial to his re-election efforts. First lady Jill Biden is leading both the effort to organize and mobilize female voters and the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.
The announcement comes as the ripple effects spread from the Supreme Court’s decision that overturned federal abortion rights, touching on medical issues for women who never intended to end their pregnancies. In Alabama, for example, the future of IVF was thrown into question statewide after a judge’s ruling.
In his comments at the reception, Mr. Biden didn’t mention by name former President Donald Trump, who is now running to reclaim the White House. Instead, he referred to “my predecessor” who had been “bragging about overturning” the Roe v. Wade decision that had guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion.
The president suggested that would hurt Mr. Trump and the GOP during this fall’s election, saying, “You can’t lead America with old ideas and take us backward.”
Further leaning into politics, Mr. Biden said his administration has “turned around the economy because we focused on women,” noting that female unemployment had fallen and the number of womenowned small businesses had increased.