Please join us in creating systemic change to end the breast cancer epidemic.
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Update: Thanks to hundreds of thousands of women’s health advocates who joined together and made our voices heard, Komen revised their granting policy, again making Planned Parenthood eligible to receive money for vital breast health services. We insisted that women’s health come before politics or corporate interests. And a change happened because we demanded it. But we cannot allow ourselves to think our work is done just because Komen reversed course on their funding for Planned Parenthood. The status quo has not and will not end the breast cancer epidemic. Read our take on Komen’s decision here.
Tell Susan G. Komen for the Cure not to cut vital women’s health services
Women’s healthcare is under assault once again. Susan G. Komen for the Cure is pulling all funding for Planned Parenthood, an outrageous decision that threatens women’s access to vital health services. But what’s particularly concerning is this funding cut will impact underserved communities most.
Planned Parenthood provides vital health services including screening, clinical exams, referrals for ultrasounds and biopsies, and breast health education, often to women who do not otherwise have access to healthcare.
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Take action for safe cosmetics!
In the United States, there are no restrictions on ingredients in body care products, no required testing for harmful chemicals, and no obligations to include certain ingredients on labels.
This lack of regulation is how we end up with personal care products containing toxins linked to breast cancer.
You can advocate for systemic change that will make our personal care products safer. Send a letter to your Representative now asking them to support the Safe Cosmetics Act.
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Help get BPA, a cancer-linked toxin, out of our food
Breast Cancer Action believes food should be safe for all of us, not just those who can afford to buy organic.
We recently joined Breast Cancer Fund and MomsRising.org to demand that Campbell’s Soup Company stop using the cancer-linked BPA in their canned food products; please join us in supporting this campaign!
BPA, or bisphenol A, is an estrogenic chemical linked to breast cancer found in the lining of canned food. Canned foods cost less than fresh and organic foods. While some of us can afford to eat organic or buy BPA-free canned foods, thousands of us are exposed to BPA on a daily basis, especially those living on limited incomes who neither have the money nor access to fresh, affordable produce. The onus to ensure our canned food is safe does not lie with consumers; it rests with manufacturers.
Already signed the petition? Please, ask your friends to join you in taking action.
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Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Coalition
Breast Cancer Action is part of the national Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Coalition, working to create federal policy that will help stop breast cancer before it starts through stronger regulation of toxins linked to breast cancer.
You can help create a healthier world for all of us by taking action:
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Think Before You Pink®, a project of Breast Cancer Action, launched in 2002 in response to the growing concern about the number of pink ribbon products on the market. The campaign calls for more transparency and accountability by companies that take part in breast cancer fundraising, and encourages consumers to ask critical questions about pink ribbon promotions.
Learn more about this year’s Think Before You Pink campaign, called Raise a Stink!
Think Before You Pink™ is made possible by the generosity of the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund, Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, Marisla Foundation, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, and Rainbow Grocery Cooperative.
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Eli Lilly took pinkwashing to a whole new level when it acquired rBGH, sold as Posilac, from biotech company Monsanto in 2008. By adding rBGH to its products portfolio, Lilly completed its cancer profit circle: it creates cancer with rBGH, sells cancer treatment drugs like Gemzar, and sells a drug, Evista, to reduce the risk of breast cancer in women at high risk of the disease. Eli Lilly’s cancer drugs made $2,683,000,000 for the company in 2008. Its potentially carcinogenic dairy hormone made millions of dollars in the same year. Tell Eli Lilly to stop making and marketing rBGH. Tell them to stop milking cancer!
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At BCA, we are committed to eliminating environmental toxins that contribute to the breast cancer epidemic. Methyl iodide is a toxic chemical used to induce cancer cell growth in research laboratories. Unfortunately, its reach extends far beyond the lab – methyl iodide is a pesticide commonly applied to crops, including strawberries, in the United States.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that we have a unique opportunity to remove this carcinogen from our world. The EPA is taking public comments until April 30th about whether to revoke their approval of methyl iodide use. Please join us in telling the U.S. EPA to do its job and protect people from this cancer-causing pesticide.
In 2010 California regulators let industry influence trump science and public health when they approved the use of methyl iodide — a carcinogenic pesticide.
Methyl iodide is so toxic that chemists use it to induce cancer cell growth in labs. Yet California state regulators approved its use as a pesticide on strawberry fields and other crops. California regulators made a terrible mistake in approving methyl iodide.
But now a successful organic farmer has been appointed to head California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) by Gov. Brown. This is happy news on a number of fronts, but first and foremost, it means that CA is now poised to reverse the decision to register the cancer-causing strawberry pesticide, methyl iodide.
With your help, we’ve been holding the line on methyl iodide. That struggle is what has created the moment of opportunity we have right now. Let’s finish this! Take action now.
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BCA is an endorsing organization of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which is a coalition effort that works to protect the health of consumers and workers by securing the corporate, regulatory, and legislative reforms necessary to eliminate dangerous chemicals from cosmetics and personal care products.
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California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative
The California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative was formed in 2005 out of a growing concern for the health and safety of nail salon and cosmetology workers, owners, and students. It addresses reproductive and environmental justice and health issues facing these communities through a multifaceted approach using policy, research, industry advocacy and outreach, and education. BCA is a member of this group, and Program Manager Kim Irish serves on its steering committee.
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CHANGE (Californians for a Healthy and Green Economy)
BCA is a member of this statewide coalition of environmental health, policy, labor, environmental justice, interfaith, and other organizations that are working to create a better system of regulating toxic chemicals in California.