Three major breast cancer advocacy groups,  Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Young Survival Coalition and The Breast Cancer Network of Strength, are supporting legislation(HR 1740, the EARLY Act) pending before Congress.   The legislation proposes teaching breast self-exams to high school students.  After reading an article on The Cancer Letter’s website, the question that must be asked is “why?”

In an accompanying letter by Dr. Leslie Bernstein, she makes a a strong case against the EARLY Act.  She states:

The National Breast Cancer Coalition also makes a very academic appeal to reconsider the EARLY Act. With so many people not having access to care, why would any organization advocate spending nearly $50 million on questionable educational practices that affect only a small segment of women diagnosed with breast cancer. There are many erroneous assumptions in this legislation. Read the article on The Cancer Letter’s website linked below and see if you don’t agree.