Woman strips to show fresh mastectomy scars as Virginia official calls to defund Planned Parenthood

[DonViejo]

Roanoke County Supervisor Al Bedrosian was interrupted by a breast cancer survivor as he was pushing to defund Planned Parenthood at a recent press conference in Virginia. According to The Roanoke Times, Bedrosian had been on a “crusade” to defund the United Way since a conservative group released deceptively edited videos of Planned Parenthood employees speaking about fetal tissue donations.

“Let’s make everybody happy,” Bedrosian told a group of anti-abortion activists in front of the county administration building. “Those that want to support Planned Parenthood, go for it. Do it. We’ll continue to pray on our side that we get out of this business of killing babies, but you can do it if you want. That’s freedom in America. But to actually enhance, facilitate or enable it through county government is where I have a problem.”

A woman who was identified as Leigh Anne Woods by WDBJ walked up the podium and took her shirt off as Bedrosian was speaking. “You have a problem because they perform abortions, look at everything else they do, they save lives!” Woods said. “It’s more than birth control,” she insisted. “It’s more than abortion. They save lives.”

Woods told WDBJ that she wanted to show the county supervisor the scars from the mastectomy she had just weeks earlier, and she credited Planned Parenthood for saving her life.

Full story + video
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/woman-strips-to-show-fresh-mastectomy-scars-as-virginia-official-calls-to-defund-planned-parenthood/

[AllFieldsRequired]

1. She is a fucking hero, and notice what this moron said before she did that

“Those that want to support Planned Parenthood, go for it. Do it. We’ll continue to pray

So the adults will take action to save the lives of women, and the children, i.e. teaparty, will pray while denying women access to health care

[madamvlb]

2. What courage she has.

[Runningdawg]

3. You go girl!

n/t

[SunSeeker]

4. That was POWERFUL.

[bvf]

21. +1.

[bjobotts]

51. PP prevents 345,000 abortions per yr.Here's how:

from Nicholas Kristoff’s article in NYT "…This in a country where half of all pregnancies are unintended, where 30 percent of American teenage girls become pregnant by age 19.

The Guttmacher Institute, which studies reproductive health, calculates that Title X family planning centers (PP) prevent about one million unintended pregnancies a year, of which 345,000 would have ended in abortion. It says that every year Title X clinics (PP) avert some 53,000 cases of chlamydia and 8,800 cases of gonorrhea, and save the lives of 1,100 women who would otherwise die of cervical cancer.

In other words, Title X prevents an abortion about once every 90 seconds...."
This should be shoved in the faces of all those ignorant or misinformed senators who voted to defund Planned Parenthood as they have no idea how much good this organization provides…
Bring it up at all council hearings where you're allowed to talk.

[Dont call me Shirley]

5. I would gladly show my breast cancer scar in solidarity with Leigh Anne and Planned Parenthood.

[mercuryblues]

6. I can't show them

where my scar is from the cancer that PP caught when I went for my yearly exam.

[Dont call me Shirley]

7. ...

Stay healthy, mercuryblues

[mercuryblues]

42. I am

thanks to PP. They caught it early enough to treat every time. Since then I have had 3 children. Isn't that what those anti PP fuckers are all about, giving birth? Apparently they don't want women healthy enough to have kids to begin with.

[Contrary1]

25. Me too!

I guarantee they couldn't look at mine without wincing. Two mastectomies, a failed reconstruction, six surgeries in all.

It would be worth going topless, just to shut them up...even for a minute.

[Dont call me Shirley]

26. ....

How fun it might be to give those crackpots some shock and awe!

[Enthusiast]

41. +100%!

[Ruby the Liberal]

31. Add me to this list

I have had reconstruction since the BMX, but the scars are still there. My early dx likely saved my life and I proudly wear these scars as testament.

Standing in solidarity.

[Dont call me Shirley]

49. ...

Stay healthy, Ruby

[Ruby the Liberal]

50. You too, sister!

[Brickbat]

8. K&R for the truth.

[frylock]

9. Total badass..

much respect.

[SoapBox]

10. Bravo!

[Solly Mack]

11. K&R

[sheshe2]

12. Powerful protest by Leigh Anne.

[smirkymonkey]

13. +1000

[turbinetree]

14. That was inspiring to hold these and this hypocrite.................

accountable------------------I want to know and see what he had to say.
I probably know what it looked liked his mouth dropping to his god damn right wing knees

Good for her and anyone other woman that does this-----------------YEAH

[mountain grammy]

15. K&R for this brave woman.

[bulloney]

16. Another example that the anti-abortion crowd is not pro-life as much as they're anti-choice.

What percentage of PP funding has been spent on abortions? 3%? The remaining funding goes primarily toward services that save lives or make healthier lives. But clowns like Bedrosian don't pay attention to things like that. They like the attention they get by showboating against abortions.

[Fawke Em]

36. And that 3 percent is ONLY from private funding.

The federal funding that PP receives ONLY goes to exams, care and education.

Congress hasn't funded abortions at PP or anywhere (with some exceptions) since the early 1990s, per the Hyde Amendment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde_Amendment

[Raster]

44. Well now, let's not cloud the anti PP rhetoric with facts.

Planned Parenthood supports WOMEN, plain and simple. And that is what the misogynistic reich-wingers cannot tolerate.
FUCK 'EM!

[ismnotwasm]

17. She is a hero

Thats a horribly difficult time, and she used it to to help others.

[Oilwellian]

18. I'm proud to be in this woman's neck of the woods

This is the most awesome story ever! I'm going to have to see if I can find this woman and send her a card of appreciation. What incredible courage she must have!

[Lars39]

22. Please tell her that this woman(me) with a mastectomy scar fully supports her!

[blackspade]

19. Fuck yes.

In your face, you religious dickhole.

[Juicy_Bellows]

29. Allow me to echo your comment.

Just what I was thinking.

[prayin4rain]

40. Hahahahaha, agreed. n/t

[MerryBlooms]

20. So brave... a true hero.

I wish her many many years of good health and happiness.

[steve2470]

23. excellent protest! nt

[DirkGently]

24. KNR. They took ACORN with this fake video garbage.

Can't have Planned Parenthood.

No way, no how.

[Hekate]

27. Powerful! Now that is a righteous sister!

[Tsiyu]

28. Leigh Anne Woods- YOU are a hero

You are my hero.

If only every woman had your courage in the face of woman-hating zealots.

[kimbutgar]

30. You go girl...I am awed that she confronted this sexist jerk

Because any man who is against planned parenthood is a sexist jerk or a cruel politician who's doing this for votes.

I predict this news conference will come back someday and bite him in the a$$.

[Ruby the Liberal]

32. K&R!

[punguin54]

33. why not defund oil company subsidise instead. that would save the country a lot more money.

[flamingdem]

34. Right on

!!!

[jtuck004]

35. Thank you. n/t

[bullwinkle428]

37. Shithead J. Chump would have called her "disgusting"; I regret that I can only

K&R this thread for her bravery.

[Uncle Joe]

38. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, DonViejo.

[SwissTony]

39. An amazing woman.

And it seems we have some equally amazing women here on DU.

As a mere man, I bow to you.

[Raster]

43. Kick! Kick! Kick!

Thank you, Leigh Anne Woods! Person of courage!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

45. You are my hero, Leigh Anne Woods! Thank you for your courage.

[allan01]

46. bravo

every four years this shit to defund planned parenthood , acorn, now united way? gee, when are these jerks going to govern ? they dont know how . or want to. however they feel that they own congress and the white house and get upset when their right of ascention gets interuppted esp by a black man who beat them fair and square . good show mamm

[Stuart G]

47. k and r ..nt

[Wounded Bear]

48. K & R...for courage...

Not a woman, but I have a cancer scar, too. Melanoma. Again, early detection and diagnosis with rapid treatment saved me from what could have been much, much worse.

Any anti-PP rhetoric invites scornful, derisive responses from me. I have too many women in my family to let this go unfought.