Last week, the Trump administration put a thumb on the scale in favor of reality and women’s health. This is much needed because politics often trumps reality in healthcare today — even in the most unexpected places.
For my recent appointment with a breastfeeding center in Washington, the intake form questions didn’t ask about my experience as a mother or woman, but instead referred to me, a nursing mother, as a “lactating parent.” The “lactating parent” view of healthcare hurts women by not recognizing a distinct difference in our bodies.
In June, New York lawmakers passed legislation that would replace “mother” with “gestating parent” in certain family laws. The bill now sits on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D-NY) desk, awaiting her signature.
The words we use matter, particularly when they come from the institutions entrusted with our health. A mother is more than a collection of reproductive functions, and women’s healthcare involves more than pregnancy and childbirth.
Women have distinct biological needs throughout our lives. Medical research and treatment must recognize the differences with men if they are to serve women effectively.
Improving women’s health begins with recognizing a fundamental reality: Women’s bodies are biologically different from men’s, and those differences matter at every stage of our health journey, from the conditions we experience to the treatments we receive.
That’s why I was pleased to attend the Rose Garden signing ceremony for President Donald Trump’s executive order titled Advancing Women’s Health to Improve Outcomes in All Phases of Life. On a sunny day in Washington, I joined a packed crowd of women, and a few men, eager to see an initiative that puts women’s distinct medical needs at the forefront of healthcare research and innovation.
The executive order establishes the White House Women’s Health Task Force and directs the creation of a new Women’s Health Division at the National Institutes of Health to advance medical research, accelerate scientific discoveries, and improve health outcomes for women at every stage of life. In particular, it calls for greater “inclusion of women and girls in clinical trials.”
During the ceremony, the president acknowledged chief of staff Susie Wiles’s recent health battle with breast cancer and announced that she will be leading the White House Women’s Health Task Force along with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
What stands out to me is the executive order’s underlying recognition that women’s health deserves dedicated attention and research because women’s bodies are biologically different from men’s. Women’s healthcare should not mirror the care provided to men, nor should it only be focused on pregnancy.
“My Administration is committed to ensuring that American women are receiving the best scientifically-supported medical advice in the world,” the executive order reads. “Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to prioritize translating research into improved clinical care that benefits women and girls through a comprehensive approach to women’s health that recognizes evolving health needs from infancy, childhood, and adolescence through pregnancy, midlife, menopause, and aging, and supports timely, stage-specific prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care.”
It is not just that our bodies are different, but medicine can impact women differently than men. A landmark 2005 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine examined aspirin’s cardiovascular impact on nearly 40,000 women. Women’s bodies reacted differently from men’s to the preventive use of aspirin.
Recognizing biological differences will improve research, diagnosis, treatment, and ultimately, outcomes.
During the signing ceremony, first lady Melania Trump said, “In 2026, medical advances can do more than just prolong life. It should give women the freedom to live life to its fullest, to pursue our dreams, experience love, discover, create, travel, and lead.”
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Of all the causes she could champion, the first lady has chosen to shine a spotlight on women’s health and the power of medical innovation to improve women’s lives. She has often celebrated American ingenuity, and this initiative offers an opportunity to put that ingenuity to work for women. Through medical breakthroughs, expanded treatment options, and better health outcomes, more women can lead healthy, fulfilling lives and pursue the goals that matter most to them.
The first lady’s initiative highlights that women are biologically distinct from men, and our healthcare should reflect that reality. Now, the challenge is to harness American innovation to turn that recognition into medical advances and better health outcomes for women at every stage of life.