Ahead Of Veterans Day, Gillibrand, Goodlander Introduce Bill To Bolster Research On Gender-Specific Burn Pit Health Effects

Ahead Of Veterans Day, Gillibrand, Goodlander Introduce Bill To Bolster Research On Gender-Specific Burn Pit Health Effects

Nov 10, 2026

Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Appropriations Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, and Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander (D-NH-02), member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, introduced the Toxic Exposure and Women Veterans' Health Outcomes Act to improve research on burn pits' effects on women veterans' health.

The bill would require the Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Defense (DoD) to examine the understudied linkages between military service near burn pits and gender-specific health outcomes for women veterans, such as impacts on fertility and the prevalence of birth defects in babies born to affected women. The ultimate goal of the bill would be to justify the addition of more women-specific health conditions to the PACT Act and to provide women veterans with insight into the conditions their children may have as a result of their toxic exposure.

"I was proud to pass the PACT Act in 2022 to deliver on our country's promise to take care of our toxic-exposed veterans. But our work is not over," said Senator Gillibrand. "The VA must conduct more research into the effects of burn pits on our brave women veterans so we can make sure their conditions are adequately covered. It is absolutely imperative that we fill in these gaps in our data and give women veterans access to the full spectrum of care and benefits they deserve."

"The women of America's Armed Forces breathed the same toxic burn pit smoke as their brothers in arms. They deserve the same answers," said Congresswoman Goodlander, a member of both the House Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs Committees who served for more than a decade as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve.

"Instead, too many women who served our country in uniform are still left wondering whether their service cost them their health, their fertility, or the health of their children. That's dead wrong, and Congress can fix it now. I'm proud to join Senator Gillibrand in leading this bill to close these research gaps and make sure no woman who served our country is left behind. Our veterans have always had our backs. We have a sacred obligation to have theirs."

The Toxic Exposure and Women Veterans' Health Outcomes Act would direct the VA, in collaboration with DoD, to conduct a comprehensive study on burn-pit related health effects experienced by women veterans. This would include:

• Effects on female reproductive capacity and reproductive organs;
• Effects on reproductive outcomes, including birth defects, adverse reproductive outcomes, and fertility;
• Effects on developmental disabilities of the children of covered individuals;
• Effects on female-specific organs and tissues; and
• Other effects unique to the physiology of women.

More than two decades ago, a landmark study found that women veterans from the Vietnam War faced a significantly elevated risk of having children with moderate to severe birth defects. As a result of the study, in 2000, Congress mandated that children of female Vietnam-era veterans receive presumptive VA benefits if they are born with certain birth defects. However, despite this evidence and numerous other studies documenting the harmful effects of toxic exposures in post-9/11 veterans, research on reproductive health and birth outcomes for the over 300,000 women who served in post-9/11 conflicts remains severely limited.

"We know through our members' stories and our own personal experiences that female service members are at extreme risk of developing toxic exposure-related health conditions, including those related to reproductive healthcare. Because these conditions are often unique to or manifest differently in women, and can remain undetected for years or even decades, DoD and the VA have struggled to fully understand the scope of these health impacts and ensure women veterans receive the recognition, care, and treatment they deserve," said Dr. Kyleanne Hunter, CEO of IAVA. "We are thrilled with Senator Gillibrand's introduction of the Toxic Exposure and Reproductive Health Outcomes Act, which would finally require a holistic look at the impacts of toxic exposure on women to close longstanding gaps in research, improve health outcomes, and ensure women veterans are no longer overlooked."

"The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) is grateful to Senator Gillibrand for introducing the Toxic Exposure and Women Veterans' Health Outcomes Act," said Bonnie Carroll, TAPS President and Founder. "This important legislation will address long overdue gaps in care and research for women veterans exposed to burn pits and toxic substances during military service. TAPS is proud to support this legislation and looks forward to its passage."

"Reproductive health problems after deployment are under-studied and too easily overlooked," said Julie Tomaska, PhD, retired Air Force, Chief Scientific Officer Burn Pits 360. "For a woman veteran exposed to burn pit smoke, facing infertility, pregnancy loss, or a child's birth defect is hard enough without wondering whether her service played a role. After Congress required VA to study women who served in Vietnam, researchers found a significantly higher risk of birth defects in their children, and those conditions are now covered. Yet for the nearly 300,000 women who served after 9/11, only two studies have examined birth outcomes. Senator Gillibrand's bill closes that gap, building the evidence needed to recognize these conditions under the PACT Act."

"Women veterans deserve the same recognition, research, and care for service-connected toxic exposures as their male counterparts," said Jessica Jordan, Executive Director of Military Veterans Advocacy Inc. "This legislation represents an important step toward understanding the long-term health effects of toxic exposure on women veterans and their families. MVA strongly supports this initiative and urges Congress to advance this important legislation."

Gillibrand was a leading champion of the PACT Act, which was signed by President Biden in 2022. The PACT Act expanded healthcare and benefits for veterans suffering from illnesses caused by exposure to burn pits and other toxic substances while serving abroad in post-9/11 conflicts. These burn pit-related medical conditions are now presumptively service-connected, meaning that veterans who were deployed overseas near burn pits no longer have to provide direct proof that their disease is service-related in order to receive benefits.

The Toxic Exposure and Women Veterans' Health Outcomes Act is endorsed by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), the National Military Family Association (NMFA), Burn Pits 360, Military Veterans Advocacy Inc. (MVA), the Wounded Warrior Project, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and Tri-State Women Warriors.

The full text of the Toxic Exposure and Women Veterans' Health Outcomes Act can be found here.

A video of Senator Gillibrand discussing the bill can be found here.

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