Senator Barbara Ann Mikulski
Helping You to Be You Part 2: Women’s Health Advocacy (2022)

  1. Senator Mikulski talks about how many women were systematically excluded from research studies. How are our institutions harmed when we fail to include representation from all groups in our society?
  2. Are there parallels that we can draw between the fight to include women in medical research and the fight for women’s suffrage?
  3. Senator Mikulski says that we must we clear on our purpose but that we must also consider funding. How did our elected officials use ‘the power of the purse’ to advance women’s health advocacy?
  4. The Women’s Health Equity Act provided a framework with twelve components that could be passed in total but also could be broken down into smaller pieces that could be passed one bill at a time. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches to change, one rapid and one incremental?
  5. How are the principles of the women of the Senate upheld during the Mikulski/Murkowski debates? How can we encourage civility and respect in today’s discussions?