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Act Now...Save women's lives in South Carolina!

Right now, the state is slashing funding that is critical to saving women's lives in South Carolina.

The Best Chance Network (BCN) breast and cervical cancer screening program is on the verge of completely losing critical funding from the state. Without these programs, thousands of women will go without access to vital early detection services and necessary treatment – but there's something you can do.

Please, write your state legislators now and tell them to protect funding for these vital programs. It's simple, just fill out the form below.

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As your constituent, I care deeply about our state's commitment to fighting breast and cervical cancer.

I am asking this conference committee to reject proposed funding cuts for the Best Chance Network (BCN), which provides breast and cervical cancer screening services for low-income, uninsured, and under-insured women.

The South Carolina House passed an amendment to the state budget that would cut health programs, including eliminating $2 million of state funding for the Best Chance Network - putting at risk thousands of women the state just recently worked so hard to save.

If these cuts remain, over 8,000 South Carolina women will lose access to the cancer screening that may well save their lives.  Early detection is a key to surviving breast cancer.  When breast cancer is detected early, before it spreads beyond the breast, the 5-year relative survival rate is 98 percent.  Once the cancer spreads to other parts of the body, survival rates plummet to 23 percent.

Clinical studies show that it is 2.5 times more expensive to treat late stage breast cancer ($52,288) than it is to treat early stage breast cancer ($21,320). We therefore expect the South Carolina Medicaid program to save significant treatment costs by detecting cancers earlier through the Best Chance Network.

This situation cannot be ignored.  Delays in diagnosis and treatment can, and will, affect chances of survival for these women.  We urge you to stand up for the mothers, sisters, and daughters of our state by saving this vital program from the budget axe.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]

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