Double Mastectomy Made Breast Cancer Bill Personal for Letlow
Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) is putting forward a new bill Tuesday that would put in place a universal breast cancer risk assessment tool to help women better evaluate their likelihood to develop the disease.
The legislation, provided to Bloomberg Government ahead of its introduction, is serving as one of Letlow’s initial health agenda cornerstones as she plans for her probable move to the Senate next year. The issue is also personal to Letlow: she shared first with Bloomberg that she preemptively had a double mastectomy three years ago following a risk assessment that put her at high risk for breast cancer.
“I made the difficult decision to go ahead and do the double mastectomy, which was one of the hardest things that I’ve ever been through in my life,” Letlow said in a Monday phone interview. “But there’s not a day that I regret it because I can wake up not having to worry about breast cancer.”
Letlow’s mother is a triple negative breast cancer survivor — an aggressive form of the disease — which increased the congresswoman’s risk factor.
There is currently no universal breast cancer risk assessment tool. Instead, there are more than 20 models that can assess breast cancer risk, per the Cleveland Clinic, and they vary widely in what factors are considered for risk. Different health organizations also offer varying recommendations for when women should get mammograms.
“It just feels like it’s too easy for there to not be a common risk assessment tool out there for every woman to easily access. And right now there’s not,” said Letlow.
Her new bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services to do their own evaluations on determining the best universal breast cancer risk assessment tool and then put forward plans to implement it. The legislation would direct the health agency to study existing risk-assessment tools and report to Congress on the inaccuracies in those tools. It would also expand access to early detection services via federal grants.
Senate Priorities
Letlow is likely to become Louisiana’s junior senator next year after she won the GOP primary in the red state, beating out incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). She is facing a nominal Democratic challenger, but is expected to win.
She’s interested in pursuing initiatives to improve maternal health, women’s health research, and the Make America Healthy Again movement once she gets into the Senate. She said she hasn’t yet finalized which committees she would like to serve on.
“I definitely want to continue the good work that Secretary Kennedy and Secretary Rollins have come together and are doing on food policy, strengthening our nutrition standards,” said Letlow, referring to the secretaries of the Health and Human Services and Agriculture Departments. “Banning junk food purchases for SNAP, promoting healthier school meals, just making sure we have great choices for our kiddos.”
Letlow is also a supporter of paid family leave — which isn’t always popular among Republicans — and said she thinks her experience of being a mom with a young family could help to bring about policy changes, alongside other lawmakers who have kids at home while they’re serving in the Senate.
“These are things that we’re having to live day in and day out and can lend our voices to because it’s a reality of life for us,” said Letlow. “I think anytime you have representation from a different part of life, it can be a really positive thing throughout the chamber.”