Washington, D.C. – It is remarkable that Trump-RFK Jr.’s HHS is bothering to go forward with its inaugural conference on women’s health this week after the administration and Republicans in Congress rolled back the clock on women’s health care on multiple fronts its first year, from ripping away health tax credits from over 12 million women to severely restricting reproductive freedoms even when mothers’ lives are at stake, to attacking research and health programs that address women’s health disparities.
“Under Trump and RFK Jr., women are paying more for health care while having less and less access to services they need,” said Kayla Hancock, Director of Protect Our Care’s Public Health Project. “This administration is so determined to deny all women access to abortion medication that it decided to risk the lives and health of patients who need it to treat horrific conditions like ectopic pregnancy. The administration is so intent on keeping the system rigged in favor of wealthy men and big corporate donors that they’ve tried to shut down any research and program that dares to identify and remedy women’s health disparities. Now RFK Jr’s HHS has the audacity to host a conference to distract from all the ways that this administration has set back women on health, affordability, and bodily autonomy to appease the wealthy donors who have bought their influence.”
Here’s How Trump and RFK Jr. Have Set Women’s Health Back Decades:
- RFK Jr.’s HHS Tore Up Biden-Era Guidance That Ensured Access to Abortion Medication Needed For Autoimmune Disease, Ectopic Pregnancies, and Miscarriage. RFK’s HHS formally rescinded Biden‑era guidance that had required federally funded pharmacies to dispense methotrexate and misoprostol when prescribed for autoimmune disease, ectopic pregnancy, or miscarriage care — opening the door for pharmacies to refuse lifesaving drugs because they are also used in abortion care. Despite his long record of supporting abortion rights and contraceptives, RFK Jr. has made a complete u-turn as HHS Secretary, ordering the FDA to launch a new review of medication abortion based on junk science from anti‑abortion groups, endorsing wastewater surveillance aimed at tracking and restricting abortion pill use, and decimating the family planning office at HHS and effectively ending an initiative to provide contraception to millions of low-income women.
- Donald Trump and RFK Jr. Are Targeting Research and Health Programs Addressing Women’s Health Disparities. Donald Trump and his health secretary have put women’s and reproductive health in the crosshairs, using the machinery of HHS to reward ideologically aligned care and punish everything else. RFK Jr. has been particularly ruthless in targeting research or health programs that address health disparities. An NIH analysis by former institute director Jeremy Berg found more than 700 multiyear grants were forced to change titles from 2024 to 2025, with nearly 100 removing the word “equity,” dozens deleting “disparities,” and many stripping out references to specific racial groups and gender minorities. HHS leadership froze or “reconsidered” scores of diversity and equity-related grants, and agency leadership has signaled that even those restored under court order are unlikely to be renewed. Head Start centers were told to avoid words like “disability,” “woman,” and “tribal” or risk losing HHS funding, and NIH was forced to backtrack from plans to eliminate the Women’s Health Initiative, a landmark study of women’s health.
- RFK Jr’s HHS Withholds Reproductive Services Guidance, Threatening Access for Millions: Politico reports:“Clinics that provide free and subsidized birth control and other reproductive health services to millions of low-income people nationwide are warning that access could soon be cut off if the federal government continues to delay the funding process. The Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Population Affairs has not yet released the guidance dozens of health care organizations around the country need to apply for a funding cycle that begins on April 1. They had been scheduled to receive that guidance by the end of last year. […] HHS did not respond to questions about the status of the guidance and the possibility of a funding lapse.
- Indiscriminate HHS Staff Cuts Leaving Maternal and Reproductive Health Programs In Lurch: As detailed byThe Commonwealth Fund: “HHS has already downsized its workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 employees. Abrupt terminations have hindered staff’s ability to hand off their responsibilities, effectively shuttering some programs. Mass layoffs have threatened the administration of programs critical for maternal and reproductive health.” As just one example, layoffs included key staff at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who oversee “Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant, a HRSA program providing grants to all states and jurisdictions to address the health needs of pregnant women, mothers, infants, and children. In 2023, the program helped provide services for approximately 59 million people.”
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