You’re Helping Our Voices Reach Congress. Help Us Keep Going.

Our voices are reaching Congress. We are still asking for answers, action & accountability.

When I started this petition, I wanted the harm experienced by people with endometriosis to be heard, examined, and addressed.

That work has continued through patient testimony, congressional outreach, policy proposals, and requests for accountability.

Here is where we are.

Through my work with the American End of Endo Project, Women's Health Advocates and other fellow advocates, I have continued bringing patient concerns to congressional offices and working with the office of Congressional Endometriosis Caucus co-chair Representative Nikema Williams.

In February, Rep. Williams and congressional colleagues sent a letter asking the Department of Labor to make endometriosis and adenomyosis more visible in FMLA materials and guidance. The goal is to help workers, employers, and healthcare providers understand protections that may already apply.

In September, her office publicly announced an HHS oversight letter asking questions about diagnostic delays, access to qualified care, insurance barriers, coding, and reimbursement. These questions bring patient concerns into a formal request for government answers.

Another current effort seeks fair access to pelvic floor physical therapy for people with endometriosis. A congressional letter is gathering signatures through October 26. We are also continuing discussions about a separate research-focused letter.

These efforts deserve recognition. They also need follow-through.

We are continuing to press for FY2027 appropriations report language that reflects endometriosis as a chronic, systemic, inflammatory condition. We are asking congressional offices to protect useful provisions and support wording that reflects the disease beyond its reproductive effects.

That language remains an active advocacy request. We are tracking proposed changes and following up because progress needs to be protected as well as pursued.

Alongside this policy work, my petition effort continues collecting patient accounts. More than 40 testimonies have been collected, with additional submissions continuing.

People describe years of seeking help, symptoms being dismissed, difficulty reaching appropriate care, financial losses, and harm affecting work, school, family life, and daily function.

Patients should not have to keep proving how hard they tried to get care before someone examines the barriers they encountered.

I have also developed letters directed to the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, and HHS Office for Civil Rights requesting review of these concerns. Keeping an accurate record of requests, submissions, responses, and unanswered questions is part of this work.

The petition continues to call for investigation. I am seeking qualified attorneys and legal organizations willing to assess the documentation and advise whether individual claims, coordinated litigation, or a possible class action could be supported ASAP. We can't wait any longer. 

Patient testimony deserves careful review. Establishing legal responsibility requires that review, and I want this work prepared to receive it.

We are asking public institutions and healthcare systems to explain what they are doing, address gaps, and make measurable changes. We will continue documenting both their responses and what patients experience.

To everyone who has signed, shared, submitted testimony, or helped carry these concerns into a congressional office, THANK YOU!

Please share the petition more if you can. Ask your representatives to engage with the Congressional Endometriosis Caucus and support meaningful action on care, research, and disability access.

Patients are doing the work to be heard. We deserve action that reaches our lives.

All my best,

-Chelsea BreeAnn Hardesty