Lupita Nyong’o and Mandy Moore Fight For Women’s Health R…

Lupita Nyong’o and Mandy Moore brought star power and personal testimony to Washington, D.C. this month, joining forces with the Society for Women’s Health Research to demand greater federal investment in women’s health.

The actresses met with lawmakers ahead of the September 30 appropriations deadline, urging Congress to close the funding gap that has long left women’s medical needs underfunded and overlooked.

For Nyong’o, the fight is deeply personal. The Oscar winner revealed earlier this year that she has battled uterine fibroids for more than a decade. “I was first diagnosed 11 years ago, and at the time I was told my only options were to live with the pain or undergo invasive surgery,” she told ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis. “When I asked my doctor what I could do to make sure that they didn’t come back, she said, ‘There’s nothing you can do, it’s only a matter of time until they grow again.’”

Her story underscores the urgency for research on fibroids, a condition that disproportionately affects Black women yet still lacks adequate funding and treatment options.

Moore, best known for This Is Us, has focused her advocacy on maternal health. As a mother of three, she spoke about the confusion and frustration she experienced while navigating fertility challenges.

“Since becoming a mother, it’s so much easier for me to advocate on behalf of myself and my children and the future generations,” she said.

At one point, she was misdiagnosed with endometriosis and told she might not be able to have children. A second opinion changed her trajectory, but the experience highlighted how limited research can leave women without answers.

Together, Nyong’o and Moore spotlighted two key bills: the bipartisan Uterine Fibroid Intervention and Gynecological Health Treatment (U-FIGHT) Act, introduced by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), and the Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) Act, which would authorize more than $53 million annually for maternal health programs at the NIH.

The advocacy push is also supported by Perelel, a women’s supplement company working with both stars to amplify the campaign. During their Capitol Hill visit, Nyong’o and Moore stressed that women make up 51% of the population, yet historically have received less than 10% of NIH research funding.

“For us to just allow women to be in pain, for it to be normalized and accepted, is unacceptable,” Nyong’o said.