Bettys Daughter Speaks Out

I don’t know that this plan is the best plan, or that it will do everything we want and need it to do. But getting a bill out of committee, with only one Republican vote, is a step.  I will be watching — and posting — with great interest.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEALTH_CARE_OVERHAUL?SITE=WFAA&TEMPLATE=LATESTNATIONAL.html&SECTION=HOME

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/13/senate.health.care/index.html

The poet Muriel Rukeseyer said, “What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open”

It is time to split the world open. I want to hear your story, the truth about your life. Your story of how breast cancer has touched your life. Of how access to, or lack of access to, healthcare has shaped your life and your story.

Telling our stories is the only thing that can counter the hysteria from the right, the misinformation, the lies, and most importantly the silence. Stories are powerful, and I want yours.

You can either tell me  your story in the comments, or drop me an email.  I want to publish as many stories here as I can.

I want to split the world open and help make it new.

My friend Kim is sharing her story at her blog: http://chevy49girl.livejournal.com/129529.html

We, all of us, need to tell our stories. Our stories of how this disease has touched our lives.  Our stories of how the health care system has failed us, of how the health care system has saved us. We need to tell them, loud, proud, and over and over.

Because this is the only thing that can counter the rising tide of misinformation, hysteria, and outright lies. And because countering that rising tide is the only thing that can change the stories we’ll tell in the future.

It’s not usually my style to cut and paste from an email rather than generate my own content, but I want to share this email from Moveon. org with you. If you’re in Texas, call Senator Cornyn. (And then let’s get busy voting him out of office, though that’s another post.) If you’re not in Texas, check the list I’ve provided below to see if one of your Senators is on it, and make that call.

From Moveon:

Hi, I’m the public health insurance option.
People have been saying all sorts of untrue things about me lately, so I decided it was time to stand up and set the record straight.
First off: the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. I’m happy and healthy. And I’m proud to play a starring role in four of the five health reform bills currently on the table.
Second: I have a lot of friends. President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi support me—as do 77% of the American people.1 In fact, I’m feeling pretty popular.

But there is one area where I could use your help. Your senator, John Cornyn, sits on the Senate Finance Committee, which is considering a “trigger” proposal that could kill me through indefinite delay.

Can you call Sen. Cornyn and tell him that real health care reform must include a real public health insurance option that’s available immediately?
 
Here’s where to call:

Senator John Cornyn
Phone: 202-224-2934

Then click here to report your call:
http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FSTX_2&cp_id=1120&id=17304-10617340-QafwgCx&t=2A “trigger” that would make me wait to become available is just a trap designed to kill me. As Senator Charles Schumer has pointed out, “any reasonable criteria for triggering a public plan has already been met” because insurance companies have already failed to rein in costs and expand coverage.2
Here are some other things you might not know about me:

I like candlelit dinners, overseas travel, and long walks on the beach. Whoops, sorry—wrong email.
Some people say they don’t like me because I’m too expensive, but that’s just a flat-out lie. Keeping me around will actually save money—I’d cost 10% less than the typical private plan.3

I’m the best way to keep insurance companies honest. Like my friend Senator Jay Rockefeller has said, “Without the steady, positive influence of a public plan option in the marketplace, we will never truly solve the health care crisis in this country. Private health insurance has a long history of cutting people off or charging too much for too little.”4

Over 60 House progressives have publicly pledged to only vote for a bill that has me in it.5 So without me, health care reform doesn’t have enough votes make it through Congress.
And I’m counting on your help to make it through the Senate. Can you call Sen. Cornyn today?
Senator John Cornyn
Phone: 202-224-2934

Then click here to report your call:
http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FSTX_2&cp_id=1120&id=17304-10617340-QafwgCx&t=3Thanks for all you do.
–The public health insurance option (and the MoveOn team)
Sources:
1. “New Poll: 77 Percent Support ‘Choice’ Of Public Option,” The Huffington Post, August 20, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51799&id=17304-10617340-QafwgCx&t=4
2.”A ‘trigger’ for the public health insurance option? Already triggered.” NOW! Blog, May 20, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51443&id=17304-10617340-QafwgCx&t=5

3. Letter to Rep. Charles B. Rangel, Congressional Budget Office, July 14, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=84763&id=17304-10617340-QafwgCx&t=6
4. “Rockefeller Unveils Public Plan Option,” Office of Sen. Jay Rockefeller, June 10, 2009
http://rockefeller.senate.gov/press/record.cfm?id=314224

5. “60 Members of Congress Say ‘No Public Plan, No Conference,’” Firedoglake, August 17, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51784&id=17304-10617340-QafwgCx&t=7
Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee are:

1. Max Baucus, MT
2. John Rockefeller IV, WV
3. Kent Conrad, ND
4. Jeff Bingaman, NM
5. John F. Kerry, MA
6. Blanche L. Lincoln, AR
7. Ron Wyden, OR
8. Charles E. Schumer, NY
9. Debbie Stabanow, MI
10. Maria Cantwell, WA
11. Bill Nelson, FL
12. Robert Menedez, NJ
13. Thomas Carper, DE
14. Chuck Grassley, IA
15. Orrin G. Hatch, UT
16. Olympia J. Snow, ME
17. Jon Kyl, AZ
18. Jim Bunning, KY
19. Mike Crapo, ID
20. Pat Roberts, KS
21. John Ensign, NV
22. Mike Enzi, WY
23. John Cornyn, TX

You can contact your Senator through the US Senate website at http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Melissa has added some events to benefit breast cancer research to her schedule, and a breast cancer awareness page to her website. I’ve been a fan of her since my teens, and while I ached for her while she fought her cancer, I am forever grateful that she has the bully pulpit she does from which to call for awareness.

http://melissaetheridge.com/pink/

The Hard Rock Cafe (which is the venue for Melissa’ s events) is also sponsoring Pinktober: http://www.hardrock.com/promo/pinktober09/

The Breast Cancer 3-Day is one of my favorite causes. I fully intend to be in strong enough shape to undertake it myself next year, though whether I’ll do it here in Texas or in another state, remains to be seen. This year, my friend Rachel is doing the 3-Day. My mother’s name will be among the names on her team t-shirt.

Consider donating to Rachel, or any of the other amazing participants, in this life-changing event.

Go here: http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/DallasFtWorthEvent2009?px=1589300&pg=personal&fr_id=1295

From the ages of 11 to 13, I watched my mother, Betty, struggle with breast cancer. It was a cancer that, with early detection, would likely have been treatable. But while she was fighting the battle going on in her body, my mother was fighting another battle, one she had no hopes of winning.

She was one of the millions of uninsured in the United States. No insurance meant no access to the early detection that might have saved or prolonged her life. 

After nearly three agonizing years, my mother lost her battle with cancer in 1988.

For years afterwards, I watched my self-employed father pay off her massive medical bills, $100 and less at a time.

In 2005, my father, also uninsured, died suddenly of a condition that, with early detection, might have been treated.

This is my space to speak out about the health insurance debate in this country. It’s a place to drag into the light the fundamental sexism of a system that would deny coverage to pregnant women, domestic violence victims, and other women just for having the “risk factor” of being female. It’s a place to look at the current research and activism about breast cancer, and to debunk the myths that feed the sexism and the fear. It’s my place to speak out.

Because she didn’t raise me to be silent.