Findings

Congress finds as follows: (1) Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States and is the leading cause of cancer death in women aged 20 to 49 in the United States. (2) Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system, but it accounts for only about 1.1 percent of all cancers in women. (3) There will be an estimated 439,570 new cases of breast and gynecological cancers in the United States in 2026. (4) Rates of incidence and death for gynecologic cancers by race and ethnicity show that, while for some cancers, like ovarian cancer, the rates of incidence and death are similar among all races, for other cancers, like cervical cancer, women of color have disproportionate incidence and mortality rates. While the incidence of uterine cancer is similar for White women and women of color, rates of death for uterine cancer are 2 times higher for Black women than for White women. Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women experience death rates up to 3.3 times higher than White women from cervical, stomach, and uterine cancers. (5) Breast cancer rates are rising faster in Asian American and Pacific Islander women than in any other racial or ethnic group in the United States. (6) Cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates are higher for women living in rural and underserved regions in the United States. Women living in such areas face unique barriers in accessing reproductive health care services to prevent and treat cervical cancer, including a lack of practicing gynecologists in rural areas and challenges around transportation to preventive and follow-up appointments. (7) Prevention and cancer screening are the best approaches to protecting women from cancer and ensuring early detection and life-saving treatment. Many deaths from breast and cervical cancers could be avoided if cancer screening rates and diagnostic care and services increased among women at risk. Deaths from such cancers occur disproportionately among women who are uninsured or underinsured. (8) Due to enhanced screening, cervical cancer is now a much more preventable and treatable cancer. It is also highly curable when found and treated early. (9) Increased access to education; information, including information on the human papillomavirus vaccine; and preventive cancer screenings, resulting in timely and adequate treatment, increase women’s ability to survive cancer. (10) While more than 20 percent of cases of cervical cancer are found in women over the age of 65, it becomes less likely that women are tested for cervical cancer ever or within the previous 5 years as their age increases. (11) Women’s health care providers that are primarily engaged in family planning services, such as Planned Parenthood health centers, provide necessary screening tests, education, and information to women, especially women of color who face the highest risks of breast cancer and other gynecologic cancers. (12) Access to preventive gynecological screening is also critical for transgender men who have comparable rates of susceptibility to cervical cancer as cisgender women, but often have less access to preventive screenings. (13) Discrimination and racism in health care continues to contribute to disparate rates of gynecological cancer in non-White women. Black, Indigenous, and other women of color die at higher rates from cervical cancer than White women, even though fewer women overall die from cervical cancer. (14) Black women with endometrial cancer often receive surgery less often than White women and are more likely to be diagnosed at an advanced stage of the disease, contributing to disparities in mortality in Black women.