For Mother's Day, I Want an End to Breast Cancer

For Mother's Day I want an end to breast cancer. No jewelry, sweaters, flowers or chocolates. I want to know mothers can stop worrying about the women in their lives and themselves. I know it won't happen this year. But this year we can at least get Congress to be more serious about this goal.

Right now, the National Breast Cancer Coalition is leading a push to get 218 House Members and 60 Senators to commit to co-sponsoring the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act (S.579/H.R.1157) by Mother's Day. BCERA, developed after many years of analysis by NBCC and one of our top legislative priorities, would fund a national strategy to look at and address the links between the environment and breast cancer.

Just last week NBCC advocates from across the country, many of them breast cancer survivors, took to the Hill to meet with members of Congress and their staff about BCERA. And before that, Grammy-winning singer/songwriter and breast cancer survivor Sheryl Crow met with Congressional members of both parties to discuss BCERA. We have generated lots of attention and many promises. But not enough action. This Mother's Day we need more than resolutions from Congress to honor the nation's mothers.

Pick up your phone. Tell your Representative and your Senators to co-sponsor this legislation. Tell them the 240,000 mothers, daughters, sisters and wives diagnosed with breast cancer each year matter to you. Tell them do to it for your mother, for their mother, for mothers and for all women everywhere. A box of chocolates for Mother's Day is nice. Taking the next step to end breast cancer is better.