They are united by cancer — and they don’t let ugly politics divide them : Shots

Mary Katherine Johnson is a former small business owner from the suburbs of Rochester, New York. She voted for Donald Trump three times.

Lexi Mealing, who formerly worked in a doctor's office, is from Long Island, New York. She's a democrat.

But these two women share a common bond. They are both breast cancer survivors.

And when the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network held its annual civic lobby day in Washington, D.C., last month, Johnson and Mealing were among more than 500 volunteers pushing Congress to ensure cancer research and support for cancer patients remains at the top of the U.S. health care agenda.

Annual request

The day in Washington is something of a ritual for groups like Cancer Control.

This year, it comes as Democrats and Republicans in Washington reach a budget impasse that has led to an indefinite shutdown of the federal government. But these volunteers overcame their political differences and found common ground.

“Not a single person here discussed whether you were a Democrat or a Republican,” says Mealing, one of 27 volunteers on the New York delegation. “Cancer doesn't care.”

Each of the volunteer lobbyists has been affected in some way by a deadly disease that is expected to kill more than 600,000 people in the US this year.

Johnson said each of her mother's 10 siblings died of cancer, as did her friend, who died at age 57, leaving behind a wife and two young daughters.

Like many New York City volunteers, Johnson also says she is concerned about the state of politics today.

“I think we're probably more divided than we've ever been,” she says. “It scares me. He's afraid for his grandchildren.”

Katie Martin, a volunteer from Buffalo, New York, is also concerned. She and her daughter recently drove past political protesters shouting at each other on the street.

“My daughter is silent, and then she starts asking: “What is this?” And I don’t know how to explain it because it doesn’t even make sense to me,” she says. “It's very heartbreaking.”

Mealing says she can barely watch the news these days. “Many Americans are stressed. There's a lot going on.”

Bipartisan support

Americans are truly divided on many issues: immigration, guns, President Trump. But polling shows that helping people with cancer and other serious illnesses has broad bipartisan support.

IN one recent survey7 in 10 voters said it is very important for the federal government to fund medical research. These included most Democrats and Republicans.

“It's rare to see numbers like this in today's environment,” said Jarrett Lewis, a Republican pollster who conducted the survey among patient groups. “But almost everyone in this country knows someone who has had cancer.”

Likewise, recent KFF survey found that three-quarters of U.S. adults, including a majority of Republicans who support the MAGA movement, want Congress to expand subsidies that help Americans buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces. (KFF is a nonprofit health information organization that includes KFF Health News.)

These subsidies, which are critical for people with chronic diseases such as cancer, are one of the main stumbling blocks in the current budget impasse in Congress.

As volunteers gathered at a convention hotel in Washington, they focused on their common agenda: increasing funding for cancer research, preserving insurance subsidies and expanding access to cancer screening.

“We may not see eye to eye politically. We may not even see eye to eye in social circumstances,” said Martin, a volunteer in the Buffalo area. “But we can see beyond these differences because we are here for the same reason.”

State delegations practiced the speeches they intended to make to their members of Congress. They told personal stories that they shared. And they swapped tips on how to deal with reluctant employees and how to ask for a photo with a deputy.

On the morning of their lobby, September 16, they reassembled in the enormous ballroom, dressed in identical blue polo shirts and armed with red information folders to leave at each office they visited.

They received a pep talk from a couple of college basketball coaches. They then headed through the city to Capitol Hill.

An army of volunteers from every state in the country attacked 484 of the 535 Senate and House of Representatives offices.

Not every visit was an unqualified victory. Many Republican lawmakers oppose extending insurance subsidies, arguing they are too expensive.

But lawmakers from both parties have backed increased research funding and support for expanding cancer screening.

And New Yorkers were pleased with this day. “It was amazing,” Mealing said as the day wore on. “You can just feel: “Everyone is stronger together.”

Memorials and lessons

As evening fell, volunteers met on the National Mall for a candlelight vigil. It was raining. The bagpipes started playing.

Around the pond near the Lincoln Memorial, about 10,000 tea lights flickered in small paper bags. Each luminary had a name on it—a life touched by cancer.

John Manna, another New Yorker, is a self-proclaimed Reagan Republican whose father died of lung cancer. He reflected on the lessons the day could teach a divided nation.

“Talk to people,” he said. “Get to know each other as people and then you can understand someone’s positions. We have a little disagreement, but, you know, we don't attack each other. We talk and discuss it.”

Manna said he will return next year.

KFF health news is a national news service that produces in-depth journalism on health issues.