Lawmakers push to increase menopause education

MADISON, Wis. (WMDX) – A bipartisan group of lawmakers are aiming to increase education about menopause while receiving help from Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry.

Data shows a lack of information on menopause. According to the National Institutes of Health, 85 percent of women who look for information about menopause are already experiencing it. The study also shows 77 percent of American women believe that menopause education should be taught in schools similarly to education on puberty.

State Sen. Dianne Hesselbein (D – Middleton), State Rep. Robyn Vining (D – Wauwatosa), and State Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R – Appleton), are sponsoring a bill that would increase menopause education. 

The bill would require the Department of Health Services to create a resource page and pamphlet about menopause, similar to resources pages for measles, to STDs, heart disease and more. “Many women say ‘I don’t feel like myself.’ And they deserve to know why that is, and what they can do about it,” said Vining. 

Lawmakers also heard testimony yesterday from Academy Award-winning actor Halle Berry, who’s advocating for menopause resources across the country. 

“It’s stigmatized,” said Berry. We’re afraid because we’re ignorant to what is happening to our bodies. That’s why education is so important, and that’s why I’m here. I have real-life examples of how more education would’ve saved me almost four years of self-exploration, I would’ve loved to get this information from my healthcare providers.

According to the bill, adding the page on menopause and creating other resources will have no extra cost.