MARCH 25, 2022 www.qns.com RIDGEWOOD TIMES
13
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
SNAP S
STROLLING THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD
PHOTO BY JOE ABATE
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