The Moment Halle Berry Called Out Gavin Newsom Over the Menopause Bill
Y’all already know Halle Berry isn’t one to bite her tongue, especially when it comes to issues affecting women. Our Oscar-winning queen recently stepped into the political arena, putting California Governor Gavin Newsom on blast. Why? Because he vetoed crucial bipartisan menopause legislation not once, but *twice*. And sis made it clear that this move might just cost him any presidential aspirations he’s been dreaming about.
Speaking truth to power at The New York Times’s DealBook Summit, Halle Berry didn’t mince words. Her voice was steady, her message sharp, and the room was listening. “Here in my home state of California, my own governor, Gavin Newsom, has vetoed our menopause bill not once, but two years in a row,” she stated Wednesday. “But that’s alright; he won’t be governor forever.” Period. No fluff, just facts.
But Berry didn’t stop there. She pressed on a larger, more critical point — women’s health is not some optional extra. It’s not a political accessory to be tossed around during election cycles and then abandoned. She followed up with, “By neglecting women—half the population—and dismissing us during midlife, he really shouldn’t be our next president either.”
That right there? That’s a mic drop moment from a woman who lives the reality millions of us face.
And honestly? She’s not wrong. For the second year running, bipartisan lawmakers worked hard to push the Menopause Care Equity Act through the California state Legislature. And twice, Newsom shut it down. The latest rejection came in October, sending waves of disappointment through advocates who saw this bill as a crucial step towards bridging a healthcare gap women have been screaming about for decades.
So, what was in this bill? It would have required health care plans already covering prescription drugs to also include comprehensive perimenopause and menopause care. Plus, it demanded new medical training requirements around menopause—because, get this, most doctors receive almost zero formal education on it. Seriously, half the population goes through this, and our healthcare system still acts like it’s an elective course?
Berry’s fight didn’t slow down after that veto. She teamed up with Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Dr. Pauline Maki, who directs the Center for Health, Awareness, and Research on Menopause at the University of Illinois’s College of Medicine. Together, they penned a powerful op-ed for Time, directly calling out Newsom’s policy decisions. In their words, his veto was a “failure” of his commitment to women.
“It’s infuriating that women in California have to keep waiting for proper healthcare when we were so close to making real progress,” she asserted.
And trust, across the nation, millions of women are nodding their heads in agreement right now because this frustration? It’s universal.
