HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra’s Statement on Women’s History Month

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Today, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra released the following statement in honor of Women’s History Month, celebrated every year in the United States throughout the month of March, and in recognition of International Day of Women on March 8, 2023:

“From doctors to nurses to social workers and early childhood educators, women are often the backbone of our health and human services systems. And this month, we celebrate all they do to ensure these systems are functioning at the highest levels.

“Outside of our health and human services systems, women are also often the backbone of our communities – taking the lead day in and day out to care for family, friends, and neighbors while contending with the weight of parenting, cost of childcare, and scourge of sexism, including pay disparities. 

“Women are also contending with the loss of their constitutional right to abortion care. We will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with women and girls across the country as we work to restore reproductive health care access for all. Today, 50 years after Roe v. Wade, our daughters have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers.

“At HHS, we know that the only way to improve the health and well-being of all Americans is to eradicate the racial, gender, and economic barriers that make it hard for women and girls – especially women and girls of color – to access health care.

“This is why we have invested billions of dollars in expanding access to care, lowering health care costs, and decreasing disparities – whether the issue is maternal health, behavioral health, reproductive health, foster care, or domestic violence.

“The work we do at HHS is critically important and so is who is leading the work. Since day one, it has been important to me that HHS looks like this country. So, when I look across the conference room table and see the many women in leadership positions across the Department—or as I meet the next generation of women leaders at HHS—I know that we are truly fulfilling our mission.

“I am the husband of an incredible woman and doctor. I am the father to three incredible daughters. And I am the Secretary of Health and Human Services for this incredible country. And no matter what hat I am wearing, you can always count on me to be a vocal champion for women – both during Women’s History Month and during the other eleven months of the year.”