WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday establishing a White House Women’s Health Task Force and a new Women’s Health Division.
The executive order is an initiative of his wife, first lady Melania Trump, who promised that “beginning today, we will change the reality of women’s health.” Melania said the Women’s Health Task Force will hold its first meeting this week and will be co-chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
“Our generation will fight to discover the cures that will ensure a woman can live her life in health and to the fullest,” Melania told attendees at an event in the White House Rose Garden. Her husband spoke after her, praising his wife for her hard work on the topic and expressing disbelief that no one had created a women’s health division yet.
“Think of it, a women’s health division and it hasn’t been done,” President Trump said. “But it’s been done under Trump.”
US First Lady Melania Trump speaks during an executive order signing ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 19, 2026. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)
The order establishes the Women’s Health Division within the National Institutes of Health and is intended to accelerate scientific discoveries to improve women’s health outcomes.
A White House Fact Sheet on the topic specifically notes that more research is needed on issues critical to women’s health, including on issues such as heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and mental health, but also lesser known diseases like endometriosis, polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), and infertility. Millions of women struggle with those fertility related health issues — underlying issues which can be reasons that women seek costly in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments.
“Today’s executive order is a powerful step toward confronting health challenges unique to women through the creation of the White House Women’s Health Task Force and the Women’s Health Division at the NIH,” White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster said.
“Improving the health of all Americans is a top priority for President Trump and the First Lady, and this task force will work to close critical research gaps and strengthen care for women across all stages of life, targeting some of the most widespread health conditions affecting them,” she added.
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 19: U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump sign an executive order in the Rose Garden of the White House on October 19, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
During her remarks on Monday, Melania Trump also highlighted her “First Lady’s Five Pillars of Women’s Health Innovation,” which direct research funding towards finding cures for issues specifically affecting women, using artificial intelligence to enhance understandings of female biology and speeding up medical discoveries. It also seeks to accelerate the process of getting “promising therapeutics from laboratories to female patients,” ensuring that women can access medical breakthroughs, and finally, replacing “generations of silence with open conversation, education, and compassion.”
“Previous generations fought for women’s rights,” the first lady shared. “Our generation will fight to discover the cures that will ensure a woman can live her life in health and to the fullest.”
“Our mission must serve women at every stage of life, from young girls just starting out to mothers dealing with a complex range of responsibilities, to mature women who deserve to have vitality, dignity, and independence,” she added. “In 2026, medical advances can do more than just prolong life. It should give women the freedom to live life to its fullest- to pursue our dreams, experience love, discover, create, travel, and lead.”
.png)
.png)
