President Joe Biden is anticipated to approve a executive directive on Monday that will promote the investigation of women’s health by enhancing data gathering and streamlining funding options for biomedical research.

Half of the population is made up of women, but their health is not receiving adequate funding and attention. It was not until the 1990s that the government required women to be included in medical research that is funded by the federal government. Throughout most of history, scientific studies have primarily focused on men.

Currently, research often neglects to accurately distinguish between genders and does not equally incorporate women, especially for conditions that affect them more frequently. Aides stated that Biden’s executive order intends to address this issue.

According to Dr. Carolyn Mazure, the leader of the White House initiative on women’s health, our knowledge about preventing, diagnosing, and treating various health issues in women is still inadequate.

Biden said he’s long been a believer in the “power of research” to help save lives and get high-quality health care to the people who need it. But the executive order also checks off a political box, too, during an election year when women will be crucial to his reelection efforts. First lady Jill Biden is leading both the effort to organize and mobilize female voters and the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.

The news follows the impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling which reversed national laws regarding abortion, impacting women’s medical concerns unrelated to terminating pregnancies. In Alabama, a judge’s decision threw the future of IVF into doubt across the state.

In the 2020 election, women played a crucial role in helping Biden win by giving him 55% of their votes, as reported by AP VoteCast. Within Biden’s coalition, Black women and suburban women were especially strong supporters, while Trump had a slight lead among white women and a significantly higher proportion of white women without college degrees, according to the AP’s survey of over 110,000 voters in the election.

Jennifer Klein, an adviser at the White House, announced that the National Institutes of Health will be implementing a new initiative focused on menopause and alleviating its symptoms. This endeavor will identify any areas lacking in research and take action to address them.

On Monday, at a reception for Women’s History Month, Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, were anticipated to reveal the regulations at the White House.

The National Institutes of Health provides significant funding for biomedical research, which is crucial in understanding the effects of medications on the human body and determining appropriate dosing methods in the future.

Certain illnesses may have varying signs and symptoms between genders. For instance, heart disease may present differently in men and women. Additionally, there are health conditions that are more prevalent in women, like Alzheimer’s disease, and some that are exclusive to the female body, including endometriosis, uterine cancers, and fibroids. According to Mazure, these factors present an opportunity for further research and investigation.

Inadequate research can have significant consequences. According to a study conducted in 2020 by scholars from the University of Chicago and University of California, Berkeley, women were being prescribed excessive medication and experiencing adverse reactions due to the majority of dosage trials being conducted solely on men.

Last month, the first lady revealed a $100 million fund to support women’s healthcare.

Gary Fields, a writer for the Associated Press, contributed to this report.