UPDATE: Through the power of social media, hundreds of thousands of people came together to voice their protest against the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s decision to de-fund breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood for low-income women. This post alone received 5,000 hits by the second day of being posted. THANK YOU to everyone who forwarded my story and helped spread the word. Click below to read the original post.

I’m almost done with my Master’s degree in Management and my class this semester weighs heavily on ethics. Specifically, what ethical obligations do people in a position of power have to the people around them? These are questions that can be debated endlessly, but at the end of the day I do believe that people who have the ability to mobilize resources for good are ethically bound to do so. As a result, over the past few months, I’ve used the soapbox of my blog readership (whose monthly hits are twice as large as the city I grew up in) for important causes. In January I encouraged my readers to engage in active democracy by calling their representatives to ask them to vote no on SOPA/PIPA. Last year, I shared my personal journey to an HIV/AIDS orphanage in the Kibera neigborhood of Nairobi, Kenya, and recognized a condoms activist for her work in combating the “slut-shaming” that surrounds sexually active women.

And now, yet again, I feel obligated to use my blog platform to raise awareness of an issue near and dear to my heart. Breast cancer. You’ve probably heard by now that the Susan G. Komen foundation dropped their funding for breast screenings at Planned Parenthood. This infuriates me for a very personal reason. I’ve never publicly shared this before – and was hesitant to do so – but I have an ethical responsibility to use my platform for the greater good.

I had a breast tumor when I was 18.

I had a tumor. In my breast. By the time I found the lump it was already the size of a golf ball. I had a panic attack that night when I realized that by not being vigilant about self-breast checks, I had let a tumor grow unchecked inside my body. I mistakenly thought that since I was young I didn’t have to do self breast examinations. I realized I was wrong when I started reading about breast cancer on the internet that night, which of course made that night one of the most terrifying of my life. Trawling WebMD can do more harm than good! The very next morning I went to Olin Student Health Center on Michigan State’s campus to have a doctor look at the lump. She told me it felt benign but to confirm her suspicions she sent me to a local radiology practice for an ultrasound test later that day. It was indeed diagnosed by the radiologist as benign. Then to be 100% sure it was non-cancerous my parents bought me plane tickets so I could fly home to Arkansas the next week for a biopsy.

That week of waiting, all by myself up at Michigan State, was drenched with fear. Every evening I laid in bed awake, listening to my roommate snore. All I could think about was cancer. It was my first surgery and I was terrified. What if it was cancer and the ultrasound was wrong? What if I died from it!? Two weeks after finding the lump I had a vacuum aspiration biopsy at the Breast Center of Northwest Arkansas, a private insurance-only clinic in my hometown. It was only because my parents had the money to spend that I was able to get the best healthcare right away. Money should NOT be a determining factor in which people are adequately treated and which are not. Healthcare should be a basic human right available to all Americans. It’s a tragedy and a profound social injustice that only the wealthy in our country have good access to healthcare. Planned Parenthood aims to close that gap and is the first point of contact in the social safety net for many women who seek healthcare from affordable providers.

In the end, I didn’t die from the tumor. The biopsy determined it was a large but benign fibroadenoma. From the day I found the tumor in my breast to the day I flew home for the biopsy was less than 14 days. I was (and am) on my mom’s private health insurance through the University of Arkansas and have one of the country’s best private insurance plans. Had I been a low-income woman from an impoverished area, I shudder to think of how long I might have had to wait for those tests. Especially if my tumor had NOT been benign and I died because of only one reason; lack of money to pay for healthcare. I only had to spend two weeks anxiety ridden about the possibility I had breast cancer yet tens of thousands of Americans die every year from treatable diseases due to lack of insurance and no access to doctors. That’s where Planned Parenthood, a legally recognized healthcare non-profit organization steps in. It’s mission is to provide all women healthcare but particularly those who simply lack the monetary means to be on private insurance. In the current economic crisis, that’s a lot of women.

Especially considering that one in eight women will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives. To ensure breast cancer is caught early annual mammograms are necessary as we age. And for younger girls (like me) who develop breast lumps, access to healthcare is even more critical. Planned Parenthood provides all types of healthcare to women – not just abortions. Abortions make up a very tiny fraction of their billings. Yet Susan G. Komen Foundation bowed to the pressure of “pro-life” activists and cut funding to Planned Parenthood so that more women will die from breast cancer. Oh, the irony. Planned Parenthood, in many low-income communities, is the only access women have to routine healthcare like annual physicals, pap smears, birth control, STD tests, and of course breast cancer screenings. When I had appendicitis exactly two years ago, I remember being shocked at the number of people waiting in the ER for routine care like dialysis. Planned Parenthood reduces non-emergency ER visits and is a keystone in the safety net of our healthcare system. I recognize how lucky I was to have had private health insurance when I discovered my breast tumor. I want to make sure that all women – insured or uninsured – have access to breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood.

Irregardless of how you feel about abortion – it’s a very sensitive topic and I have many pro-life friends who I respectfully disagree with – remember this is about BREAST CANCER. Not abortions. Don’t let a small fraction of Planned Parenthood’s activities condemn poor women to die of treatable breast cancer. Susan G. Komen gave in to political pressure and now women’s lives are at stake.

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Visit Planned Parenthood of Illinois to learn more about how you can support women’s health in our community, or to schedule your own breast cancer screening.