The problem(s) with the White House’s new women’s health initiative

Two weeks before the midterms, the White House is trying to narrow a gender gap that polling keeps showing. A Pew Research Center survey put President Donald Trump's approval at 33% among men and 26% among women, and it found women favoring Democrats for Congress by 14 points while men split evenly. On Monday, Trump responded by signing an order that sets up a Women's Health Division inside the National Institutes of Health, paired with a White House Women's Health Task Force. He credited first lady Melania Trump with the idea, and she spoke at the launch, promising to change the reality of women's health, according to MS NOW.

MS NOW's Steve Benen argues the effort has weaknesses. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , who will co-chair the task force, is described as unqualified. The order provides no money and sets no funding targets. The NIH has already housed an Office of Research on Women's Health for 36 years, and The Washington Post noted that Jill Biden and Biden administration officials pursued comparable work. The New York Times reported that last year Kennedy's department sought to cut money for the Women's Health Initiative study.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →