Trump signs order creating NIH division, task force for women’s health

On October 19, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a White House task force and a National Institutes of Health (NIH) division dedicated to women's health. The task force, led by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who recently reported being cancer-free, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will focus on enhancing research, accelerating prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, and translating findings into clinical practice and policy.

The order directs the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a new women's health division within NIH within 90 days, operating alongside the existing Office of Research on Women's Health, which was created in 1990. The division will prioritize conditions disproportionately affecting women, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, chronic pain, endometriosis, fibroids, polycystic ovary syndrome, infertility, menopause, Alzheimer's disease, and osteoporosis.

The White House aims to make medical breakthroughs accessible and affordable for women, regardless of their financial circumstances, and to replace a culture of silence with open conversation, education, and compassion. The Trump administration's move comes after former President Joe Biden issued an executive order on women's health research in March 2024 and a November 2023 memorandum creating a White House initiative on the topic.

Major medical groups have criticized the administration's actions as politically motivated, while anti-abortion groups argue that the safety review of the abortion pill, mifepristone, is moving too slowly.