Breast Cancer in Florida Politics

When prominent elected officials or politicians, or even spouses of a politician, like Florida’s First Lady Casey DeSantis, are diagnosed with breast cancer, people in politics begin to listen.

Mrs. DeSantis’s recent diagnosis sent shockwaves around the state, country, and now Democratic State Senator Tina Polsky has also announced she too has been diagnosed with the disease.

Both DeSantis and Sen. Polsky have vowed to defeat the deadly disease and have turned their diagnosis into a positive and are advocating against the disease, joining the ranks of other prominent politicians—Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Janet Napolitano— who have been fighting against breast cancer since first being diagnosed.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D), who is arguably one of the biggest names in breast cancer advocacy, was first diagnosed in 2007 and opted to have a double mastectomy and have her ovaries removed because she was predisposed to a rare gene that put her at greater risk than many other Americans.

"I didn’t want the disease to define me. I am a public servant, which makes my private life more prone to becoming public discussion. I didn’t want the media to add the diagnosis to my name every time I appeared in the news,“ said Rep. Wasserman Schultz,

Rep. Wasserman Schultz attends just about all of the breast cancer awareness events in South Florida and also founded the annual Congressional Women’s Softball Game that benefits the Young Survivor Coalition, the premier global organization dedicated to the critical issues unique to young adults who are diagnosed with breast cancer.”

Wasserman Schultz’s colleague in the House of Representatives, Rep. Val Demings (D), recently teamed up with members of the House Black Caucus to draw attention to the disease.

Rep. Demings stated that “all women are at risk, but Black women are most likely to die from breast cancer than any other racial group.

Unfortunately, Rep. Demings is right.

Black women do have a higher mortality rate than White or Latino women.

According to a recent survey, black women continue to be at higher risk of dying from breast cancer than white women.

If you happen to be in Washington, D.C. this Wednesday, stop by Watkins Recreation Center at 7 pm to watch the softball game between members of the press and the congressional women.