Women’s health is so much more than a women’s issue; it’s a complex set of issues with widespread impact on families and communities. Despite significant advancements in health care, however, women continue to face unique challenges and barriers that require attention and action.
Reproductive health and rights
At the heart of women’s health is the issue of reproductive health care. Access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including family planning services, is essential for women’s overall well-being. Yet, these services are frequently under threat and underfunded.
Whether it’s choosing a provider, ensuring access to contraception and preventative care, or ensuring the affordability of services, Santa Clara County recognizes that the ability to access and provide family planning and reproductive health care is essential for the health and well-being of our residents.
Following the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, I took action to protect access to reproductive health care by authoring a resolution that reconfirmed our county’s continued support for reproductive rights and called on Congress to enact national legislation protecting those rights.
Ensuring that women in our county have access to comprehensive health care has long been a priority for me. Most recently, I worked with my colleague, Supervisor Cindy Chavez, to make our county’s OB/GYN Urgent Care program, an innovative pilot program we launched for pregnant women during COVID-19, a permanent offering of the Santa Clara Valley Healthcare system.
Back in 2017, when I learned that Planned Parenthood’s San Antonio Road site lease was coming to an end, I urged our board to partner with Planned Parenthood to find a way to continue health care services for our North County patients.
As a result, in 2022, we opened the county’s first specialty care clinic and pharmacy in the North County. Located in the Planned Parenthood facility on California Street in Mountain View, the clinic and pharmacy complement the primary care services offered in the area by Planned Parenthood and other local nonprofit partners.
In 2018, when we learned that the MayView Community Health Center, which provides health care to low-income families and individuals throughout northern Santa Clara County, had been operating on reduced hours, I persuaded the Board of Supervisors to take action to provide MayView with emergency stabilization funding. The county’s support enabled MayView to hire a full-time OB/GYN and a part-time nurse practitioner, allowing the health center to keep all of its clinics open and preserve accessible and affordable health care for women in the North County.
The following year, our board allocated almost $500,000 to replace Title X funding lost as a result of new federal rules that penalized organizations that made referrals to access abortion services.
Removing barriers
As policymakers, it is our duty to break down barriers to health care, especially those affecting marginalized communities. I’m glad to have had so many opportunities over the years to advocate for women’s health.
To address a gap in critical services for survivors of violence, in 2019, I successfully pushed for the expansion of sexual assault exams to the North County (at Stanford Hospital), enabling survivors to undergo the procedures closer to home in their own community.
In 2020, I pushed for funding to support Pink Ribbon Good (PRG) and Cancer CAREPoint in their work with patients receiving cancer treatment at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Our county’s support enabled these two organizations to provide a slew of critical services to patients during the height of the COVID pandemic and, in the case of PRG, expand services to patients at other hospitals throughout the county.
Breast health services
Considering the profound importance of preventive care, particularly breast cancer screenings, I recently proposed that county officials expand opportunities for breast cancer screening for residents to ensure early detection of breast cancer, particularly those with dense breast tissue.
A new law went into effect this month requiring mammography facilities nationwide to notify patients of their breast density in their mammogram reports. This is important because an overwhelming majority of women are unaware of their breast density, yet nearly half of women have dense breast tissue, and the risk of breast cancer for women with extremely dense tissue is about five times greater than for those with low density.
The new FDA mandate will help women make better decisions about additional medical screenings or care they may need. It’s essentially what we did here in California more than a decade ago with Senate Bill 1538, legislation I authored (as a member of the California State Senate) to improve breast cancer detection in women with dense breast tissue.
In 2023, at my behest, our board declared our county’s support for the Find It Early Act, federal legislation pending in Congress that would require insurance plans to cover diagnostic tests without additional cost to the patient due to insurance co-pays or deductibles.
Let’s continue to advocate for policies that support women’s health, educate our communities and ensure that all women have access to the care they require at every stage of life. Let’s work together to eliminate health disparities and protect reproductive rights.
To all the women reading this: I urge you to take charge of your health today. We often hear of women taking care of themselves last, missing a sign or symptom because they were busy taking care of others. Schedule your mammogram, and encourage others in your life to do the same. Listen to your heart and call 911 if you are experiencing a stroke or heart attack. It could be the action that saves yours—or a loved one’s—life.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian represents the Fifth District which includes Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Saratoga, Stanford, portions of San Jose and unincorporated communities in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Stay up to date on news and events happening in District 5 at district5.sccgov.org/newsletter.
