Two life-changing events reshaped Lupita Nyong’o’s world in 2014: she won an Academy Award, and she was diagnosed with uterine fibroids.
“What should have been a milestone of joy was overshadowed by confusion, pain and fear,” Nyong’o told lawmakers at a bipartisan roundtable on Capitol Hill this week. Doctors found nearly 30 fibroids and told her she had only two choices—endure debilitating pain or undergo invasive surgery. Even then, she was warned the fibroids might return.
Nyong’o underwent surgery, but when the growths reappeared 11 years later, her options had not changed. That frustration fueled her advocacy as she joined a dozen members of Congress, actress and singer Mandy Moore, and health experts to call for greater investment in women’s health research.
“Today, I’m here to call on Congress to consider what our current health care spending says about how we value the health and lives of half our population,” Nyong’o said. “When we underfund women’s health care, we signal that women’s pain, women’s mortality and women’s quality of life are secondary concerns.”
Lawmakers from both parties framed the issue as one that transcends politics. “Illness doesn’t care … it strikes without bias,” said Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.). Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) noted she recently pressed NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya on closing research gaps, adding, “I can’t tell you how many times people have come to our office and shared their story, and it has drafted legislation to go on to make a huge difference in this world.”
Three bills highlighted at the event aim to expand maternal health and uterine fibroid research. One would provide $53.4 million annually to strengthen an NIH maternal health program. Another, introduced by Alsobrooks and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), would fund state programs for early detection and treatment of uterine fibroids. A third, led by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), would authorize $30 million per year for fibroid research.
“These bills do something our system has failed to do,” Nyong’o said. “They say women’s pain is worth studying, worth funding, worth solving.”
