Trump Signs Melania-Backed Order to Boost Women's Health Research
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at strengthening federal research into women's health, a plan championed by first lady Melania Trump.
"This is a transformative moment for women in America. Beginning today, we will change the reality of women's health," the first lady said at the White House signing, according to the White House.
The order, titled "Advancing Women's Health to Improve Outcomes in All Phases of Life," creates a new Women's Health Division at the National Institutes of Health and a White House Women's Health Task Force, The Associated Press reported. The first task force working session was set to convene Monday afternoon.
What the Order Targets
According to the White House, the order targets maternal health, mental health and endometriosis. It also mentions Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis, heart disease and stroke.
The order covers research, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for girls and women at every stage of life. It also calls for working with the private sector on new women's health technologies. It does not include specific funding goals.
The new Women's Health Division will not replace the NIH's existing Office of Research on Women's Health. Instead, it will have a broader mandate that goes beyond research, Reuters reported.
"Our Health Should Never Limit the Fullness of Our Lives"
The first lady said she helped shape the order and task force after consulting with physicians, White House officials, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the president. The effort followed a series of meetings she held with federal health officials.
"It was abundantly clear that women's healthcare needs to be modernized, the research gap closed," she said in a statement, adding that the need to speed up treatments and cures was "glaring."
"Previous generations fought for women's rights. Our generation will fight to discover the cures that will ensure a woman can live her life in health and to the fullest," she said in her remarks. "Our health should never limit the fullness of our lives."
She also laid out what she called the "First Lady's Five Pillars of Women's Health Innovation." They include directing research funding toward cures for conditions that affect women in distinct ways, using "super intelligence" to better understand female biology and speed up discoveries, and moving promising therapies from labs to patients faster while keeping strict safety standards. The final two pillars focus on making breakthroughs affordable regardless of income and ending the silence around women's health through open conversation, education and compassion, the White House said.
Who Leads the Task Force
The task force will be led by Kennedy and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who recently finished treatment for breast cancer. CNN reported that Dr. Mehmet Oz will also be part of the group.
The initiative marks a new focus for the first lady. In her husband's second term, she has worked on foster care and on access to technology and AI in education. In November 2025, Trump signed her "Fostering the Future" order to help young people aging out of foster care. She also backed a federal bill targeting revenge porn, which became law last year.
A Mixed Record on Women's Health
The new push comes as the administration's health policies have drawn criticism. It has pushed for cuts at the NIH, moved last year to shrink the federal health care workforce and sought to cut NIH grants for research on diversity-related topics, Reuters reported.
Health officials also removed a longstanding safety warning from many hormone replacement therapy products, which tightened supply and led to shortages. The administration has launched a safety review of the abortion pill mifepristone, which some health groups have called politically motivated, and officials told a court it would be finished by March, after the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Last year, the administration also moved to cancel contracts funding the Women's Health Initiative, a long-running NIH study of women's health with about 42,000 enrolled participants. Days later, Kennedy called the cancellation "fake news," and an HHS spokesperson said the cuts had been reversed, though some researchers said they were still waiting for confirmation that funding had been restored.
HHS also said applicants for Title X family planning funding must align their programs with the president's priorities, a move that has prompted legal action.
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