Healthcare Reform = American Women Will Die?

Puh-lease. The Independent Women's Forum, a conservative, anti-feminist organization, just launched a new ad campaign with the sole purpose of telling women that health care reform = death. Death for women with breast cancer, more specifically.



This outrageous and deceptive ad will be broadcast in 8 battleground states, including Colorado, Indiana and Nevada.

Never mind the fact that prominent breast cancer organizations such as The National Breast Cancer Coalition, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation all believe that reforming the health care system is key to increasing early detection and prevention.

What really gets me, though, is the featured woman's statement that, "My odds of surviving breast cancer were high because my care was the best." What about the 16.7 million uninsured women in the U.S.? What about the under-insured, or those whose breast cancer diagnoses were deemed "pre-existing conditions". Language like, "my care was the best", clearly seeks to give American women who currently enjoy (and I use that term loosely) the benefit of having health insurance, a false sense of privilege and safety, while simultaneously instilling a fear that their so-called privilege could be taken away.

American women currently have the highest rate of breast cancer in the world, and something must be done about it!

National Breast Cancer Coalition - Emerging Leaders

FMF friend and alum, Bree Romero, currently works with the National Breast Cancer Coaltion (NBCC) as the Field Operations Manager. As one of the organizers for NBCC's upcoming Emerging Leaders program, Bree wanted to be sure that we got the message out to the Feminist Campus community about this exciting event.

Here's what the NBCC has to say:

EL Application Deadline Extended to September 10^th!

Today, one in eight American women are diagnosed with breast cancer. The National Breast Cancer Coalition believes you can help change those statistics for your generation. We invite you to join the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s new Emerging Leaders program to eradicate breast cancer and to attend its inaugural meeting on October 18-19, 2009 in Washington, DC.

To change the systems that impact all of us and fight back against breast cancer, we need you to get involved and be a part of breast cancer activism and health care reform. When you join Emerging Leaders, you will be connected with other people across the country just like yourself.

In EL, you will be trained to be advocates for issues that affect both your state and the nation. You will be taught how to lobby effectively for breast cancer legislation needed to ensure that the right research is pursued and that the health care system works for all of us.

Please join us on October 18-19 in Washington, DC as we launch the Emerging Leaders Initiative. We invite you to take part in a day of workshops with leaders in the field and young leaders like yourself to discuss current legislation and policy concerning breast cancer, spend time on Capitol Hill and help shape this new and exciting branch of the National Breast Cancer Coalition. For additional information and to register, click here. Remember to make your hotel reservations. Contact Sharon Ford Watkins at sfwatkins@stopbreastcancer.org for more information.