I’ve been going all over town asking people to look at my breasts — no takers. Back in March, the U.S. Prevention Services Task Force recommended women start getting a mammogram at 40. I’m five months into 40, checking off a colonoscopy, skin cancer exam and a meeting with a menopause doc where I also got the HPV vaccination. A breast cancer screening is my next progression. I usually begin each morning with a brief concern that an autoimmune disease is finally rearing its ugly head. I’ve come to terms with the fact my knees sound like Pop Rocks with each squat and my fatigue is just par for the course, but if there’s something I can prevent, I’m going to do it no matter what hoops I have to jump. Hoops that make my knees crack.

After my well-woman exam with my friendly neighborhood gynecologist, I learned thanks to the Affordable Care Act, screenings are free as all health plans must cover this care without cost. Furthermore, under the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, screenings are free for women with no coverage. Unlike other screenings like a colonoscopy, mammograms do not need orders from a doctor. Sadly, as always seems to be the case with women’s issues, it takes millions of us to die before the care and funding is properly doled out.

Hopeful the process was simplified; it was only after calling several offices I realized that’s not necessarily the case. First, I contacted McKay Dee where I was told my insurance wasn’t accepted as if I was using some Temu off-brand insurance instead of Blue Cross Blue Shield, which insures one-third of Americans. Ogden Regional never called me back and Ogden Clinic wouldn’t schedule me without a primary doctor listed. Never mind the fact my doctor is retiring at the end of the year. Eventually, I was able to schedule a mammogram — for February. Four months away.

Mammograms are a key piece to women’s healthcare. With nearly 43,000 women dying each year from breast cancer, the discussion of accessibility to screening as well as incentives for medical professionals to study women’s health needs to be made a priority. There’s certainly a correlation between male leadership and the lack of support. I should note, when I made my husband’s urology appointment, it took a couple of weeks to see the doctor. Representation matters.

Women’s issues are a key point for this year’s federal election, maybe because we have a female candidate, or the fact women will be a deciding factor in the outcome on Nov. 5. Two of those issues are women’s athletics and women’s access to reproductive healthcare. Two issues that maybe men can make room at the table so women can be part of the conversation. Never have I see men so interested in gynecology or be supportive of women’s athletics as when they claim sports are under attack from transgender women. 

San Jose State’s women’s volleyball team is facing a slew of canceled games with schools like Utah State University and Southern Utah University electing to forfeit instead of play. This is all due to a rumor San Jose is playing a transgender woman, who we must not forget, is also a human being. We often forget this. Women’s sports have never been a focus for lawmakers, even when the U.S. women’s soccer team asked for equal pay. When those athletes filed a discrimination lawsuit, it was dismissed by federal judges. But now, politicians think we must protect women’s sports. It’s led me to believe this issue is a dog whistle for the anti LGBTQIA crowd.

This week, Donald Trump vowed to “protect” women’s sports from trans women athletes, though he’s made no promise to fund women’s sports, which receives millions of dollars less than male athletics. According to Newsweek, 1.4% of the entire population identifies as transgender, with an estimate that less than 100 actually compete in sports. On the other hand, a study by Harvard University found that banning abortion in the U.S. would lead to a 21% increase in the number of pregnancy-related deaths. The most recent data, available from 2022, found 817 women died from maternal causes.  The Centers for Disease Control also states 80% of those deaths were preventable. Former President Trump passed legislation that banned most abortions.

Lack of clarity in policy over transgender athletes is a real issue that continues to stunt teams, athletes and the transgender community. It’s an issue the National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, World Athletics Council and about a dozen other organizations can work through. It is not an issue to define a pivotal election for women. Women’s sports are being used as a smoke screen for men who don’t otherwise support women’s issues, particularly a woman’s right to life-saving healthcare. I can’t comprehend how in one breath these men bellow about protecting women’s sports and in the next breath bellow how women shouldn’t get to choose what’s best for their own health. The issues of women’s healthcare and athletics are being used against each other, when they are one in the same. Women issues are women’s issues.

The challenge of finding health care providers who specialize in women’s health is already hard to forage, nay impossible. While women outnumber men, making up 51.1% of the population, there’s little debate over the lack of research on women’s health. The Association of American Medical Colleges studied the disparity over medical care for women, particularly those of color, and found it’s the lack of representation of women in the field. Representation matters. If women want to see improvement in our healthcare, we have to focus on the battles that make the difference. WE have to push the agenda.

If our lawmakers, leaders and presidential candidates really want to support women, keep them alive, healthy and productive. Face the real issues head on. Don’t turn life and death discussions into an opportunity for division. If you care about the rights of women, you must care about all the rights for women.

In 1950, pathologist Helen Ingleby began the assessment of women’s breast cancer according to their age using radiology. The American Cancer Society first started recommending mammograms in 1976 for women over 50. The Breast Cancer Research Foundation started in 1993 with the help of breast cancer survivor Evelyn Lauder. By 2014, the American Cancer Society reported deaths from breast cancer declined by 38% since 1990. The ACA legislated initial mammogram screenings be 100% covered. The work, the fight of so many allows my generation better survival rates. Women worked with those who made our care a priority, but we have further to go still. We must ignore the division and push the agenda for better healthcare.