As of Tuesday, April 1st, 2025, thousands of employees from the Department of Health and Human Services have lost their jobs due to Donald Trump’s new federal funding freeze. In addition to this, he has also terminated funding from 1,700 research grants and Title X. Since the problems related to women’s rights being stripped have not improved, the funding freezes and job losses only add to the setbacks the country is facing regarding women’s health.
Research and Job Loss:
The Department of Government Efficiency’s recent cutting of employment opportunities directly impacts our research progress, especially on health and women’s wellness. Without research jobs, there will be a lack of researchers conducting such work, setting us back on our healthcare advancements. Studies on topics such as Alzheimer’s care, uterine fibroids (benign tumors on the uterus), menopause, endometriosis, and pregnancy risks have all been affected solely because they are studied on the basis of sex. This makes me wonder that since the political party in charge of making these decisions tends to classify themselves as “pro-life,” wouldn’t they want to fund research that improves women’s livelihoods and finds solutions that can prevent complications during pregnancy, therefore preventing miscarriages or even death of the mother? Apparently not.
Additionally, many medical conditions, such as asthma, heart disease, depression, etc., have different effects on women than men. We currently don’t have the knowledge to address all of these differences adequately, hence why medical research on women’s bodies is so important. This is also because it was not legally required to include women in clinical trials until 1993, so the medical field has a lot of catching up to do.
It’s even more eye-opening when we see the effects of the funding freeze for ourselves. Many of my friends either work in clinical research or have been applying to work in research. And they all have a recent story of either their funding getting terminated, a neighboring office shutting down, or being declined a job that they deserve because of Trump’s new decisions regarding funding. It’s one thing to read about these problems in the news, but another to see it with our own eyes.
Title X:
In 1970, Title X was created to provide affordable reproductive healthcare and birth control to low-income individuals who otherwise couldn’t afford it. In 2016, before Trump’s first presidency, over 4 million people relied on Title X for healthcare. This included wellness exams, lifesaving cervical and breast exams, STI testing and treatment, birth control, and so much more. However, in 2019, Trump’s administration implemented The Gag Rule. This rule prevented healthcare providers under Title X from telling patients how to safely and legally access an abortion. Sadly, this Gag Rule primarily affects people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and people in rural areas, since most of the people who rely on Title X fall into these minorities. Today, Trump has continued with his hatred for Title X by denying $35 million in federal funding. This funding freeze will directly impact many women, making accessing these resources much more challenging.
Expected Results for Women:
With the recent freeze in federal funding towards research, jobs, and reproductive healthcare, it isn’t looking too good for the women in America. Firstly, I wouldn’t be surprised if maternal mortality, cervical cancer, and breast cancer rates among women and mothers increase. Since Roe V. Wade was overturned, these rates have gone up, but with a recent lack of reproductive care access, I would expect this to worsen. Secondly, due to the lack of research funding, chronic illnesses in women are more likely going to go undiagnosed. With no research on the differences between the sexes, women will continue to be a “mystery” to the medical field, and there will be even more unknown causes of health problems regarding the female sex. In a world that’s already built for men and continues to prioritize their health and safety over a woman’s, it’s even more vital to continue research for women’s healthcare.
The standing of women’s rights and healthcare has not changed positively since the overturning of Roe V. Wade. Many of us were initially outraged that we were losing our rights, but nothing substantial enough has been done to fix this issue, and the anger of women has been swept under the rug. Now, as we watch more of our rights and access to knowledge be taken away, it feels as though our fight for autonomy and recognition has become an ignored struggle of the American people, neglected by those in power.
References:
https://19thnews.org/2025/03/women-lgbtq-health-research-trump-funding/https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/new-trump-administration-funding-freeze-imperils-reproductive-care
https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/health-care-equity/title-x