Idaho legislators shave heads to support colleague, raise awareness for breast cancer screening

Several Idaho legislators shaved their heads on Tuesday in Boise to support a colleague battling breast cancer and to raise awareness for breast cancer screening.

Rep. Brooke Green, a Boise Democrat, has been battling breast cancer and is preparing to begin chemotherapy.

When Rep. Mike Pohanka, R-Jerome, learned Green would be losing her hair and beginning treatment, Pohanka offered to shave his head too to symbolically go through the battle with her. Pohanka then recruited other legislators to join him.

“It’s absolutely incredible,” Pohanka said. “We’re supporting one of our fellow colleagues, who’s fighting cancer, and we’re all in the corner fighting it with her. We love her.”

“We just want to make sure, as far as raising breast cancer awareness, to get checked out,” Pohanka added. “Whatever we can do to help support those that are fighting and show them we’re in the fight with them.

This year, Green teamed up with several legislators to sponsor a new law, House Bill 134. 

The new law requires health insurance companies to cover supplemental breast cancer screening when abnormalities aren’t found or suspected in the breast of people who are at high risk for breast cancer due to personal or family history, genetic predisposition or other factors. Supplemental breast cancer screening required to be covered by the bill includes magnetic resonance imaging, or an MRI. 

The law takes effect Jan. 1.

Lawmakers meet at Boise salon to support legislator with breast cancer

Tuesday’s event to support Green and breast cancer screening provided several genuinely touching moments that stood in contrast to the divisive nature of modern politics and the contentious Idaho legislative session. 

Green visited the Two Zero Eight Salon and Spa in downtown Boise on Tuesday to watch her fellow legislators get their heads shaved.

While she was there, Green posed for photos and hugged each of her legislative colleagues who shaved their heads, telling them the support overwhelmed her.

“I love this, you guys are amazing,” Green said.

Some legislators brought their family members to the salon, and Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen, R-Idaho Falls, snapped photos and offered positive encouragement to each of the men waiting in line to shave off their hair.

Rep. John Shirts, R-Weiser, volunteered to have his head shaved first Tuesday. Just hours before taking his seat in the barber’s chair, the student pages who assist legislators presented Shirts with a humorous award for “best hair” in appreciation of his perfectly groomed salt-and-pepper hair.

Shirts said he hasn’t shaved his head since joining the military in 2014, but he didn’t hesitate Tuesday to buzz it all off.

“When someone’s going through a trying time you can get caught up in the session, all the politics of it, but there’s a human side as well and you want to be able to support your colleagues and help them through it,” Shirts said. 

Legislators who shaved their heads include Pohanka, Shirts and Reps. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa; Josh Wheeler, R-Ammon; Dan Garner, R-Clifton; Mark Sauter, R- Sandpoint; Jeff Cornilles, R-Nampa; and Jack Nelson, R-Jerome.

New Idaho law, House Bill 134, requires coverage of supplemental breast cancer screenings

Green and the legislators who shaved their heads said they want to highlight the importance of breast cancer screening and early detection. House Bill 134 is one way to do that, she said.

“I’ve been here for seven years and I’ve carried several bills, but this one is by far the most meaningful one … Because it’s going to help so many Idaho and women,” Green told the Idaho Capital Sun in an interview Tuesday. 

The bill was cosponsored by a mix of over two dozen Republican and Democratic state lawmakers. Green said it’s one of the most politically diverse cosponsor lists she has seen.

Days after her first breast cancer diagnosis, Green said her radiologist brought the issue to her attention. 

She recalled seeing women on Facebook groups saying they needed an MRI, but couldn’t afford it. 

“And I look to her, and I go, ‘Oh my goodness. If we could just get you that MRI early, you’re gonna have a better prognosis than say for me, who’s at stage two, or somebody who’s got stage three or four because they waited too long,’” Green told the Sun. “And so passing this legislation or being a part of it while I’m going through treatment really makes it that much more meaningful.”

While working on the bill, Green said she’s built stronger bonds with colleagues in the Legislature.

Green told the Sun, she was surprised to see her legislative colleagues shave their heads, but she said the support from her Republican colleagues shows how the issue reaches across the political aisle.

“Breast cancer isn’t a partisan thing. … It brings people together in the worst kind of ways, and gets everybody in support of a cause,” Green said. 

Little signed the bill Monday, a spokesperson for the governor’s office told the Idaho Capital Sun.

“I want to highlight Representative Brooke Green as she has courageously battled breast cancer, all while serving in the legislature this session and bringing meaningful legislation forward,” Little told the Sun in a written statement on Tuesday. “HB 134 ensures access to life-saving breast cancer screening for at-risk individuals, reducing long-term treatment costs for Idahoans, hospitals, and insurers.”

The Idaho Legislature widely passed the bill this year, on a 62-6 vote in the House and a 25-10 vote in the Senate. 

The bill doesn’t take effect until next year, Green said, mainly to give health insurers time to plan for the requirements. In the meantime, she said she’s working on a fact-sheet and educational resources for doctors.

The bill doesn’t apply to self-insured health insurance plans, like at major companies like Micron and St. Luke’s, Green told the Sun. But, she added, “we really want to empower women to be able to continue to push for it. Because (in) Idaho, we cannot mandate self-insured plans.”

Next year, said she expects to bring more breast cancer-related bills forward, but she isn’t sure yet what they’ll look like. 

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.

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