A Woman’s Moonshot

Good Sunday to you, my friends.

Good day to you wherever you are. In fact, I hope that wherever you are, you are indeed having a good day. As for me, I had one of those unforgettable weeks. It was one of those that, as I look back at it now, I almost can't believe it actually happened. If you had told me at this time last year that I would be a guest of the First Lady in her box at the State of the Union, I would have said, "Wait, what? No way." But there I was on Thursday night.

I sat in the House chamber and listened as the President of the United States gave voice and birth to an idea I brought to Dr. Biden almost a year ago. In his State of the Union, President Joe Biden announced the largest, most transformative women’s health and research investment in our nation's history: $12 billion. He announced an investment that will begin to rectify the decades of neglect that have adversely impacted almost every woman's health. It was one of those “pinch-me-is-this-really-happening" moments. As the words came out of his mouth, I could feel my eyes well up with tears. My heart soared. My mind bounced from "Is this really happening?" to "Here we go" to "Wow, we’ve got lots of work to do" to "Heck yes, this is finally happening." Emotions overcame me as I sat next to two of Dr. Biden’s other guests, Kate Cox and Latorya Beasley, who were there after personally fighting women’s health battles of their own.