BlogHers Act: Next steps

Ah, there are so many worthy causes in need of our attention and ACTION.

As a cancer educator, I must say that I am deeply concerned that melanoma - which is a largely PREVENTABLE but often misunderstood, complicated, and very DEADLY disease - is killing more women ages 20 -39 than any other cancer.

Often times, when think a disease is preventable we dismiss it and therefore focus our attention and energies on other health-related issues. All forms of cancer require and deserve our support and attention (believe me, I was orphaned as a teenager when breast cancer killed my mother). Fortunately, many cancers - especially breast cancer, are receiving widespread media coverage. Alas, melanoma is consistently ignored.

Is it that the general public feels that skin cancer is an unimportant issue? Do people not realize that melanoma skin cancer, in particular, is extremely aggressive and does, in fact, kill someone every hour? Is it that sporting pink ribbons is far more fashionable, and breasts are easier for us to relate to emotionally (since we, as women, have them and it's part of our femininity) than discussing "ugly" moles and stripping for the dermatologist?

It seems to me that we are in a unique and incredible position; We are in a position where we can make a profoundly positive impact on the cancer community, and on health care in general; to significantly improve the overall quality of life by reducing the number of cancer-related (melanoma) deaths; to steam the tide of an exploding and yet unnecessary epidemic; to set a precedence and a standard; to SAVE LIVES. With proper education, resources, research, funding, activism, campaigning, and effort, we can save people - especially young women - from having to face a foe known as the "Black Tumor". What an incredible opportunity, not to mention a profound responsibility, we have to protect people from a [largely] preventable disease.

We support, rally behind, and fight for other diseases. Melanoma should be among our list of preventable but deadly disease in which we must crusade against and protect people from....

Thank you,

Danielle M. White
Co-founder/president
The Cancer Crusaders Organization
PO BOX 2076 Provo, Utah 84603
info@cancercrusaders.org; http://onlyskindeepbook.blogspot.com

...I'd hate to see that get chosen as the focus for this effort, as it seems that it is already a very visible issue and women have lots of healthcare issues and not just breast-related ones.

I second traceesioux's comment about bringing healthcare within the reach of more women. A lot of women can't afford the basic care they need to stay healthy, let alone deal with catastrophic health problems. Women should also be concerned about the number of uninsured and underinsured children. An uninsured child getting sick could easily cause financial difficulties for a mother and the rest of her family.

I'm not saying we have to endorse a national healthcare plan, but we could at least bring to the forefront the number of women who are dealing with the high cost of healthcare and ask candidates what they propose as a solution.

----
Jen
http://yawwblog.blogspot.com
http://angryfatgirlz.blogspot.com
http://toledolefty.blogspot.com

My objections are not because I don't think people "deserve" health care, they are that the organizations who provide it usually also provide abortions, except faith-based organization which I didn't even mention because asking this group to support a faith-based organization would be just as unreasonable as asking them to support an organization which performs services that many of us think are morally wrong.

Actually, there are many women who are morally opposed to birth control as well. I am not one of them, but you would be hard pressed to find an organization that provides birth control but does not promote abortion.

I don't know how better science would help if the cost of treatments is so high, but what about getting behind a private organization that helps breast cancer patients to cover the cost of their treatments? Writing about it, increasing awareness, encouraging people to give to it?

Jeana
Link Text ( http://laughter4daystocome.blogspot.com/ )www.daystocome.net

By saying, "Personal cultural, religious and political views need to be divorced from our efforts." do you mean that we should choose an issue that does no violate any of our personal cultural, religious and political views, or do you mean that we should set aside our views so we can rally to support a cause that includes practices that are in direct violation to those views?

The websites for the organizations you mentioned are not very extensive, so it's hard to see what they encompass. If we could support a global healthcare organization that is not faith-based and does not perform or promote abortion, I would be all for it. To my knowledge, such an organization does not exist.

Jeana
Link Text ( http://laughter4daystocome.blogspot.com/ )www.daystocome.net

agree with Jeana that there are well-established, creditable healthcare organizations for which we could support. I doubt that few of us have not been impacted by breast cancer at some level. (As for me, my mother and a dear friend both died from breast cancer.)

There are many such causes. I did a search and found several. (I provide them as examples only. I've done no research on their merits.)

Global Healthcare Foundation
Global Healthcare Information Network

My comments for discussion fodder:

Personal cultural, religious and political views need to be divorced from our efforts.
BlogHer's strength relies on the degree of community bonding. The natural outcome of diversity is innovation.
If the goal of the BlogHer Act is defined to include "positive impact" (or similar wording), "positive impact" needs to be defined.
"Quick wins" result in creditability and clout. "Quick wins" need to deliver "positive impact." "Quick wins" are more easily achievable when partnering with an established, nonpartisan, respected cause.
Accept that "perfect" doesn't exist. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life -- Sophia Loren
- Maurene
E-Communications & Community

All previous comments go back to healthcare in America. If I might address the ones mentioned.

If millions of women can't afford a mamogram or a lump biopsy with the science that currently exists, how would better science help?

While we might disagree on Abortion, as women ,I think we can all agree that it benefits every woman to have affordable access to contraceptives.( My husband got a vasectomy for a $15 copay, while it cost me $30 copay for ONE month of birth control.)

While women "should" have access to mental health care if she gets it she will be uninsurable in the future. Any taking of anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medication is considered a risk factor that rules out future insurability - so is it really in her best interest to be treated for PPD or depression? If she never gets a diagnosis for her internal pain at least she'll be able to go to a doctor for other health problems under her insurance. (I did seek treatment for PPD and was denied life insurance because of it. One of us always has to be employed by a large corporation so I can still get health insurance. I'm too risky - for the rest of my life.)

In a recent article I examine just how controversial universal health coverage is asking strongly right-wing voters to reconsider their position by applying the test What Would Jesus Do? http://traceesioux.blogspot.com/2007/07/what-would...

I, for one, do not feel universal healthcare in America should be a controversial issue. The only reason it would be is if you can make a strong argument for why a person doesn't "deserve" healthcare.

So Sioux Me ( http://www.traceesioux.blogspot.com )So Sioux Me
Empower Yourself
Empower Your Daughter

Blog Fabulous ( http://www.blogfabulous.com )
A woman's relationship with the world

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Don't Try This at Home

I would love to see us tackle something that is fairly non-religious/non-political. I agree that a woman and her friends can make a difference, but we can make an even bigger difference if we are all on common ground.

I would love to see us have a voice in the area of female mental health. This could be post-partum depression, every day depression, etc. There is a real stigma in our society about taking medication to improve our mental health. I think we can help lessen that stigma and reach out to the women of America (thinking smaller since we really do need to be able to focus on an area) and let them know they are supported.

In her own Voice
As a psychotherapist who works with perinatal support and post partum depression, I am concerned about women's mental health and I rarely see this area of health care mentioned. Mental health care coverage and benefits is a real mess, not only for the client/family needing care, but for the therapist, who is usually a woman, and may very likely be a single mother herself (as I have been in the past).

I would like to contribute a blog to this section. How do I go about doing that? I just registered my blog with blogher a few days ago, and have not done a blog in the main section for blogging. Can you give me a little guidance, please?

The time for women to speak up is now, and BlogHers Act provides the perfect opportunity to show the force of our collective voice. I am so excited that we are going to do this and privileged to be able to witness in person the enthusiasm and commitment on display at the conference to do this great thing .

But every ambitious project needs needs to be carefully designed if it hopes to succeed, and I have a few concerns. I hope I'm not being too much of a downer, but here they are:

1) The BlogHer session, "What Questions Do Women Bloggers Want Candidates to Answer in Election 2008?" included some statistics on what American women are most interested in. It revealed that American women are most concerned about domestic issues, such as healthcare. International issues were a distant 5th or 6th. Is BlogHer acts just for the BlogHer community or for the general public? If the latter, do we want to work on project that from the get-go does not much interest women in this country?

2) What are the goal of BlogHers Act? How will impact be measured? Will it be measured in the number of blog posts generated? By attention generated across all media? By actual policy change? Global health is so broad. We need something we can get our arms around, and we need to understand what exactly we're aiming to do with it.

3) People are busy. Even a topic as familiar as breast cancer will require all of us to bone up on the facts. If the learning curve is too high, we risk the participation of many of our members because the effort will just be too time consuming.

I agree with Jeana that the issue of breast cancer is one that is likely to find common ground among the diverse BlogHer attendees.

Breast Cancer is an issue that everyone will be faced with at some point in their lives. Even if you don't personally get breast cancer, someone you know will. Additionally, I think it would be an especially appropriate issue given that our BlogHer 07 keynote speaker is battling breast cancer.

Antique Mommy
www.antiquemommy.com ( http://www.antiquemommy.com )

I echo Jeana's concerns, above. Many global health organizations have active involvement in "reproductive health", actively initiating funding for abortion. While I don't begrudge anyone their freedom to support the causes they choose, I hope that an effort like BlogHers Act can move in a direction that does not leave out those of us with strong pro-life opinions. BlogHers Act has the potential to bring together bloggers across party lines and unite women on the common ground we DO share.

I plan to do some searching to find global health organizations like this, and I will forward them along if/when I do.

ABC News is seeking "regular people" to ask questions via video for the upcoming presidential debates. Seems like a great opportunity to get health-care issues addressed. Here are the instructions for submitting your video question:

NEW & IMPROVED: ABC News has launched an online voting forum where web
users & our audience can vote for their favorite video question that you
think George should ask!

We will be accepting videos through Thursday, Aug 2nd.

HOW TO SUBMIT VIDEOS:

1) Via cell phone
Record a 15-45 second clip and email it to: icaught@abcnews.go.com

2) Via the web:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/BeSeenBeHeard/story...

It's not too late to submit your question! Your submission can STILL be
included in the pool of current videos.

Vote here & take a look at what we've already received!
http://ugv.abcnews.go.com/category.aspx?uid=366803...

Susan at Link Text ( http://www.workingmomsagainstguilt.com )Working Moms Against Guilt

I am cautiously excited about this. I love the idea of women with various backgrounds and beliefs uniting together for a cause we can all support. One of the things I've enjoyed most about blogging is that it creates a common ground to form relationships with women who are very different from me.

My concern about BlogHer Acts is this: It looks like we're choosing our cause by majority vote, and it's no secret that the majority of BlogHer members are of a more liberal mindset. Many of the causes that they may feel passionate about are causes that I not only disagree with but am politically or even morally opposed to.

I know you can't please everyone and no matter what we choose there will be some who wish it were different. But I believe there are causes that we can all agree are worthy, despite our political and religious differences.

As far as a specific cause, I think breast cancer research would be an excellent choice, and as far as I know doesn't have such a potential for division among our members.

Jeana
Link Text ( http://laughter4daystocome.blogspot.com/ )www.daystocome.net

Why don't you start one in the forums? We'd love to have it. And if you provide feedback on your own blog and tag it blogher07, we'll definitely come and find it. Thank you!

Best,
Lisa

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

Okay, this is the place where if I were an old-school non-feminist I would apologize for not already knowing this, but I'm not so I won't.

Will there be a specific area for feedback, comments, and general debriefing/post-conference celebration?

Nancy

Build Peace ( http://buildpeace.blogspot.com )
My Life As An Avatar ( http://www.blogher.com/http//secondana.blogspot.co... )

I highly recommend Tracy Kidder's book Mountains Beyond Mountains for all who want to learn more about the realities, frustrations and hope of global health solutions. It's a fascinating read.

I wrote about it here. ( http://cindy-weallfalldown.blogspot.com/2007/06/on... )

Cindy Fey
We All Fall Down ( http://cindy-weallfalldown.blogspot.com )