When it comes to innovation, Sophia Bush believes that’s when you focus on problem-solving and moving society forward in an equitable manner. “It’s not as interesting to me to figure out what billionaire is going to win the space race,” she says. “I’m really focused on what’s going to make the planet better for all of the people who inhabit it.” And that’s especially true for women’s healthcare. The actor and activist noted that she would like to see more innovation “honestly everywhere,” specifically highlighting the need to close the research gap, fund more pharmaceutical solutions for women, and “stop taking women’s rights away.”
Representation is a key foundational element in achieving all of this. “When we collectively, as a society, make noise and demand what we deserve, you do see the arbiters of power begin to pay attention,” she says. “We [women] are 51 percent of the population so it would be lovely if we got 51 percent of the attention — in health certainly, and politics next perhaps.”
That said, Bush knows that “we are currently dealing with a political party trying to hijack the futures of women in America.” She notes that the bans on information and the bans on healthcare are tied together, and because of that, she wants others to know that the political is deeply personal. “We need to get very serious about pushing back on the folks that are trying to take that freedom and autonomy away from us so that we can make gains in spaces like women’s healthcare.”
To learn more about what Bush had to say about women’s health advocacy and healthcare, watch the video above.