On December 16, 1975, a memorial service was held outside of the Food and Drug Administration in memory of the women who died because the agency failed to warn them about dangerous drugs such as menopause hormone therapy. It was our very first public action as the National Women’s Health Network.

The Network was founded to give women a voice within the health care system, and thanks to our members, that’s what we’ve done! But, it takes significant resources to fight back against powerful political and corporate interests. That’s why we’re launching a special 40th Anniversary Annual Fund Campaign to make the Network stronger than ever.

With your support, we will through our campaigns:  Raise Women’s Voices for the Health Care They Need, Challenging Dangerous Drugs and Devices and Secure Sexual and Reproductive Healthand Autonomy.

The Network and our members won’t stand for restrictions on insurance coverage, contraception care, or drug safety. We want to expand women’s choices, not limit them.

No other organization in the country does this work like the Network. Because to the National Women’s Health Network, nothing — not profits, not ideology — is more important than women’s lives.  And I know you feel the same way.

I hope I can count on you to make our 40th Anniversary Annual Fund Campaign a success. Your support will make the Network stronger than ever as work toward a healthy and just future for women our founders first envisioned.

Cindy Pearson was the NWHN’s Executive Director from 1996 to 2021. One of the nation’s leading advocates for women’s health, Cindy often testified before Congress,  NIH and the FDA and was frequently featured in the news as a consumer expert on women’s health issues. When she retired, Cindy received a Congressional Resolution in honor of her outstanding contributions to the health of women and girls.