“The American Cancer Society estimates that 42,250 women will die from breast cancer in 2024. It continues to be the second leading cause of cancer death in women, and Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer than any other race or ethnic group. To see a candidate in our state mock women facing a possible diagnosis is deeply disturbing, especially when almost every family has been touched by this terrible disease. 

“Early prevention methods such as self-examination or mammograms and any follow-up testing can be embarrassing, invasive and anxiety-inducing enough. Sexualizing and teasing women who are taking the important steps to ensure their health is shameful. 

“This post is nothing more than a disgusting attempt at a joke under the guise of ‘raising awareness’ from one of only three House members who voted against an overwhelmingly bipartisan bill that required health insurance policies to expand coverage for breast cancer susceptibility screenings and additional tests such as breast ultrasounds. Common-sense legislation that is saving women’s lives by promoting access to essential early detection tools.

“Mike France owes a huge apology to the more than four million breast cancer survivors in the United States, and the many loved ones of those who did not survive this disease.”