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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | MARCH 25 - MARCH 31, 2022
I AM WOMAN, HEAR ME ROAR!
BY STACEY PHEFFER AMATO
I am woman, hear me roar! Helen Reddy
said it best, “I am strong, I am invincible, I
am woman.” These lyrics hit me when I met
with a group of women at Bungalow Bar this
past summer. As we enter March, I want to
celebrate these women during Women’s History
Month and all the women who have and
continue to do remarkable things for our
community. Their strength inspired me to
take on an important women’s health issue
by introducing legislation to support women
by changing the current laws that dictate
how a woman’s body will look after having a
mastectomy. Let us give women the full option
of deciding what their post-mastectomy
body will look like. By changing our insurance
law, we will be giving women the opportunity
to choose to have reconstruction of
their breasts or to have a flat chest wall.
About 1 in 8 U.S. women (roughly 13%)
will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer
in the course of their lifetimes. We all
know someone who has gone through breast
cancer, and I will venture to say so many of
us know a woman who had a mastectomy.
While many women pursue reconstructive
surgeries, women also choose to “stay flat”
and pursue aesthetic flat closure, rather than
a breast reconstruction — meaning a woman
can have a flat chest wall, or no breasts. However,
this option is not always covered by insurance.
All women with breast cancer deserve to
have their insurance cover their choice of
surgery: either breast reconstruction, which
is already covered by insurance, or aesthetic
flat closure, a flat chest wall with no breasts,
which is not always covered. Women who forgo
breast reconstruction are most often done
in one surgery, but about one in four will require
revision to produce an acceptable aesthetic
result (an aesthetic flat closure). Too
often, these women are told that their revision
surgery is “cosmetic” and therefore will
not be covered by insurance.
I can promise you this is not cosmetic
surgery. It is insulting to even say that this
would qualify as such. In fact, to minimize or
trivialize how these women are left — lopsided,
dangling flaps of skin and scars, so disfigured
after surgery — is just appalling. These
are our mothers, sisters, daughters and
friends and they are entitled to flat chest wall
or reconstructive surgeries. It’s their choice.
We are now correcting that problem! As
we celebrate Women’s History Month, let us
make history for women by being the first
state that permits aesthetic flat closure, a
flat chest wall option, and ensures women in
New York have the right to decide how they
want their chest to look. No longer will we
allow any woman to be damaged and left in
an unacceptable state. The way to support
women is to ensure that insurance will cover
a woman’s choice to have breasts or have a
flat chest wall after a mastectomy. My bill,
A.8537 will give women, strong and beautiful
women, that opportunity.
As I go forward, I will continue to keep
you all apprised of the developments and
work being done. Every day, we get more
and more co-sponsors from remarkable Assembly
members and we have Senator Toby
Ann Stavisky leading the charge in our other
house. As always, do not hesitate to contact
my office by phone at 718-945-9550 or by email
at amatos@nyassembly.gov. It is a pleasure to
serve you and I look forward to representing
you for many more years to come.
Stacey Pheffer Amato is a member of the
New York state assembly, representing the 23rd
district in Queens.
OP-ED
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