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Sign the Breast Cancer Petition

Protect breast cancer patients from "drive-through mastectomies," and learn more about the disease and how you can help raise breast cancer awareness.

(The information you provide here is intended for this petition only, unless you elect to receive newsletter updates on the petition. We will pass the information to Congress. Lifetime will not use the information for any commercial or other purpose. However, Lifetime cannot be responsible for the use of this information by Congress.)

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Watch Six Survivors and Their Stories
Women who have battled breast cancer share their personal experiences and insights on how they coped with the disease.
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About the Bipartisan Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act:


Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut) and Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Senators Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) recently re-introduced the bipartisan Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act in Congress. Lifetime Advocacy & Public Affairs has supported the act for 13 years, since it was originally introduced to Congress by Rep. DeLauro in 1996, and continues to advocate for its passage. Thanks to its viewers, Lifetime has so far collected over 25 million online petition signatures urging Congress to pass this critical legislation, which would end the practice of so-called "drive-through" mastectomies when women are forced out of the hospital only hours after invasive breast cancer surgery.

Help restore patient and consumer rights to breast cancer patients and their families:

  • Sign Lifetime's growing petition. Lifetime will continue to deliver the signatures to Congress and make your voice heard.
  • Share your story. If you or someone you love has experienced a drive-through mastectomy, we want to know. Tell us in the official Breast Cancer Survivor community discussion.
  • Call or write your members of Congress and ask them to support the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act. You may reach your member of Congress by calling the U.S. House of Representatives switchboard at 202-225-3121. To find your representative in Congress, go to: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml.


Thank you for supporting the petition. With more than 25 million signatures, your voice continues to be heard!

RECENT UPDATES
January 2011: DeLauro Renews Efforts to End Drive-Through Mastectomies
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) reintroduced the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act on the first day of the 112th Congress. With an estimated 207,090 new cases of invasive breast cancer found in American women last year, it is critical that they receive the care they need. The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act, which passed the House of Representatives in 110th Congress but not in the Senate, would give patients and their doctors more control over treatment decisions.

May 2010: Wellpoint Guarantees 48-Hour Hospital Stay After Mastectomies
After Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro delivered a memo citing the number of Lifetime petition signatures in favor of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act, health benefits company Wellpoint Inc. guaranteed a 48-hour hospital stay as a standard clinical benefit to all patients with breast cancer who have mastectomies. Also, 20 states now have laws protecting patients' rights to an adequate hospital stay following a mastectomy.

We encourage you to thank Wellpoint Inc. by sending an e-mail to breastcancercare@wellpoint.com.

October 2009: Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro Submits Lifetime Signatures to Congress
Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Health, and urged Congressional action on her legislation, H.R. 1691, the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act. She presented to Congress Lifetime's petition with 25 million signatures.