U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland convened a roundtable on women’s health research at the Capitol last month, drawing together lawmakers, advocates, and prominent cultural figures to address uterine fibroids, a condition that has long been overlooked in federal research.
The event, titled the “Women’s Health Research Congressional Roundtable,” featured actresses Lupita Nyong’o and Mandy Moore alongside Democratic U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts, Robin Kelly of Illinois, Shontel Brown of Ohio, and other participants.
For nearly 90 minutes, the group discussed the pressing need to expand women’s health research and to advance legislation aimed at addressing fibroids, which disproportionately affect women of color.
Central to the discussion was the Uterine Fibroid Intervention and Gynecological Health Treatment Act, or U-FIGHT Act. Alsobrooks, a Democrat, co-authored the legislation with Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.
If passed, the measure would broaden access to early screening, detection, and treatment for uterine fibroids, while also addressing conditions such as Asherman’s syndrome, which involves scar tissue buildup in the uterus following surgery. It would also require greater attention to disparities in pain management.
Alsobrooks told The AFRO that the chronic underfunding of women’s health has left millions to bear their suffering in silence.
“For far too long, women and girls have suffered from fibroids and we have accepted it as normal,” the Maryland lawmaker said. “Eighty percent of women will have fibroids in their life and only 0.03% of research dollars go to studying fibroids. Women make up 51% of the population, yet only 8% of NIH research dollars go to women’s health.”
Brown, who introduced the House version of the U-FIGHT Act in July, underscored the urgency of passing the measure.
“When you consider that we are 50% of the population and the amount of resources that we are lacking when it comes to issues that impact women’s health, I think it is important that we have representatives like Lupita and Mandy Moore at the table to help elevate the importance of this,” Brown told The AFRO.
Brown said the economic burden of the current approach makes the case for change.
“We are spending billions of dollars in health care for women to recover or have surgery or all of the things that come with dealing with uterine fibroids, when we could be spending that money toward research and prevention,” Brown added.
Pressley, who has spoken candidly about her own struggle with fibroids, offered a deeply personal account of the condition’s toll during the roundtable discussion.
“I remember as a city councilor being in hearing sitting atop garbage bags because my blood flow was so heavy from the fibroids that I was carrying and still having to comport myself in a manner that was calm and effective in doing my job,” she told the group.
She continued by describing the stigma surrounding conditions such as fibroids, menopause and autoimmune diseases.
“The suffering, the shame that we carry for uterine fibroids, for menopause, for autoimmune diseases like alopecia, which I live with,” she added. “We are saying no to the suffering and shame, but yes to research and to change.”
Pressley also warned that recent federal cuts to medical research, coupled with the weakening of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, risk exacerbating long-standing inequities.
“It is possible to legislate healing, it is possible to legislate equity. It is possible to legislate justice, and that is why we are here,” she stated.
Alsobrooks closed the roundtable by thanking Nyong’o and Moore for lending their voices to the cause. She reiterated her commitment to advancing the legislation.
“I hope we can start by passing my bipartisan U-FIGHT Act to end the suffering,” she told The AFRO.
This article originally appeared here.