Stop "Drive-thru" Mastectomies!

Jessica Leigh Lebos

When Jessica Leigh graduated with a degree in creative writing, she figured she'd be slinging lattes for the rest of her life, so she shaved her head, moved into a VW bus and set off for Alaska. Good thing the van broke down just north of San Francisco, because she just hates cold weather. Her baris...

Thursday, June, 26, 2008

Thanks to reader Linda Bray for passing on the information about the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act, a bill that would allow a woman and her doctor to decide decide whether she should be able to recuperate from a mastectomy or lumpectomy for at least 48 hours in the hospital.

As it stands now, there’s nothing that prevents insurance companies from sending women home just hours after they’ve had this major surgery – it’s freakin’ cancer, for heaven’s sake! Can a sister get a couple days’ rest?!

The bill was first introduced by Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro in 1996, but was only just received a hearing in front of Congress on May 21. It’s progress, but it hasn’t been passed yet.

11 million women have already signed Lifetime TV’s Breast Cancer Petition, which certainly helped give the bill legs, but the more women demand that our legislators hold insurance companies accountable for our health the better. (We’re already paying through the nose for those premiums, right? Like we need to pay through the boobs?!)

Sign here, or better yet, contact your local Congressperson and let her/him know you support the protection of breast cancer patients!