O.C. Supervisors deny breast cancer program for young women

You would think that the Orange County Board of Supervisors would be interested in health care for women, considering that two of the Supervisors are women, but then you would be wrong.  I just received the press release below from Planned Parenthood alerting us to the fact that our useless Supervisors are not interested in supporting a breast health care program.

My sister in law’s only sister just died of breast cancer.  It is a major threat to all women. Click here to read more about this threat, as it pertains to young women.

This program would have been funded by tobacco settlement money.  It would have helped 400 uninsured women in Orange County.

Shame on our O.C. Supervisors – once again they have acted as partisan Talibani Republican hacks, not as non-partisan Supervisors.

Here is the full press release:

For immediate release Contact:
May 27, 2009 Stephanie Kight
714.633.6373

County denies breast cancer program for young women

The Health Care Agency of Orange County, under direction from the board of supervisors, won’t fund Planned Parenthood’s Breast Health Care Program

ORANGE, CA – Planned Parenthood President and CEO Jon Dunn has announced that the County of Orange has refused to fund a new Breast Health Care Program designed to serve hundreds of young, uninsured women in Orange County. The proposed program would have provided testing and treatment, including diagnostic procedures and follow-up care, to women who have a detected breast abnormality or who are at high-risk for breast cancer.

“What is clear about this decision,” says Dunn, “is that by denying this grant, the County of Orange has ensured that hundreds of young women will not have access to health care services that could literally save their lives. Our doctors and nurses perform more than 15,000 clinical breast exams each year, so we understand the need for this critically important program.”

Planned Parenthood submitted the program in the annual grant funding process for Tobacco Settlement Revenues (TSR), complying with the last-minute policy changes implemented by the supervisors just days before grants were due. The new TSR guidelines create oppressive restrictions on the funds, which severely limits the scope of services that community clinics can provide. Still, Planned Parenthood’s second-level breast health care program met every single restriction imposed by the supervisors, including the stipulation to house the program in a completely separate facility.

“We are very disappointed in the decision by the County of Orange to not fund the Breast Health Care Program,” says Lisa Wolter, executive director of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Orange County. “Orange County desperately needs additional breast health programs for young women. This was a good program meeting a critical need.”

Susan G. Komen for the Cure of Orange County recently published the Community Profile Report, which pointed out the huge unmet need for breast cancer screenings and treatment for young women in California – specifically in Orange County. Such procedures are largely uncovered for women younger than 40, and even harder to obtain if the woman is uninsured.

“Our commitment to high-quality health care for young women remains strong, this also includes teaching what you need to know about vaping CBD ” Dunn says. “We would like to work with the County of Orange to use TSR funds to support our Breast Health Care Program, but to date they have refused. This appears to be part of a continuing attack on Planned Parenthood and the women we serve.”

In its first year of operation, Planned Parenthood’s Breast Health Care Program would serve an estimated population of more than 400 young, uninsured women.

“By refusing to fund this program,” Dunn says, “the county is telling these 400 women – women who have nowhere else to turn to in Orange County for this type of testing and treatment – that they don’t care whether or not they have cancer; that the county doesn’t care whether they live or die.”

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Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties provides confidential, affordable, high-quality reproductive health care and fights for your fundamental right to determine your own destiny. We believe that respect and value for diversity in all aspects of our work are essential, and enable you to make responsible and informed choices through comprehensive, honest sex education and health information.


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