Legislation is Supported by Oscar-Winning Actress Halle Berry, Champion of Efforts to Raise Awareness About Menopause Care

May 7, 2024 - Washington, D.C. — On Monday, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined her colleagues to introduce the bipartisan Advancing Menopause and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act, led by Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.). This legislation would boost federal research on menopause and promote federal interagency coordination to improve menopause care. Specifically, this bipartisan legislation strengthens and expands federal research on menopause, health care workforce training, awareness and education efforts, and public health promotion and prevention to better address menopause and mid-life women’s health issues. The legislation is being championed by Halle Berry, who has done extensive advocacy around menopause, speaking out and sharing her story to challenge the stigma around menopause.

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.)

“It’s time to end the stigma around menopause, and I’m working to deliver the resources women need to stay healthy in every stage of their lives,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “That’s why I’m proud to help introduce this bipartisan legislation to improve our understanding of menopause and better support women across Nevada.” 

75 million women are in perimenopause, menopause, or post-menopause right now in the U.S.—with 6,000 more women reaching menopause each day. But despite the fact that half the population in the U.S. will eventually experience menopause, menopause research has long been underinvested in and overlooked. To date, there are few federally funded clinical trials on menopause and menopausal hormone therapy and very little menopause education for doctors—only 30 percent of U.S. residency programs offer a formal menopause curriculum according to a recent survey, and 80 percent of OB-GYN residents admit to being ill-prepared to discuss menopause.

A one-pager on the Advancing Menopause and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act is HERE.

The full text of the legislation is HERE.

Senator Cortez Masto has been a champion of affordable, quality health care. She helped pass legislation to make health care more affordable by giving Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices, capping drug costs, and expanding ACA subsidies. Cortez Masto has always been a fierce advocate for women’s health and reproductive freedoms, from fighting for women’s affordable access to abortion care and contraception to raising awareness of the need to reduce Black maternal health disparities. 
Source: Senator Catherine Cortez Masto