Julia Louis-Dreyfus Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis & Pushes for Universal Health Care

Julia Louis-Dreyfus—Veep star, comedic master, and serial Emmy winner (the most for a single role after this year’s win)—just announced that she’s been diagnosed with breast cancer.

She put the news out today on Twitter, in the above statement reading, “1 in 8 women get breast cancer. Today, I’m the one. The good news is that I have the most glorious group of supportive and caring family and friends, and fantastic insurance through my union. The bad news is that not all women are so lucky, so let’s fight all cancers and make universal health care a reality.”

She’s also beloved by plenty of fans and others in Hollywood, some of whom have faced the same illness, and they’ve already been voicing their support:

Both Applegate and Wilson are both breast cancer survivors, as well as DeGeneres’ mother, and Kathy Griffin recently lost her sister to cancer.

She may have won all those Emmys for playing a morally bereft politician, but her message about her diagnosis is anything but. In a time when we’re still fighting just to prevent the rollback of the imperfect progress made by the Affordable Care Act, universal health care seems like an impossible goal, and it’s often met with accusations that people who advocate for it want something for free.

A lot of the time, though, it’s exactly the opposite. As her note points out, Louis-Dreyfus has health insurance and will be able to financially cope with her diagnosis. She’s also got a great job that’s willing to build its schedule around her treatments as needed. But not everyone is that lucky, and pushing universal health care, or any real improvements to health care, is about the people who aren’t. It’s about pooling our resources and taking care of each other the way that a well-functioning society should.

(via Uproxx, image: Joe Seer/Shutterstock.com)

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Dan Van Winkle

Dan Van Winkle (he) is an editor and manager who has been working in digital media since 2013, first at now-defunct Geekosystem (RIP), and then at The Mary Sue starting in 2014, specializing in gaming, science, and technology. Outside of his professional experience, he has been active in video game modding and development as a hobby for many years. He lives in North Carolina with Lisa Brown (his wife) and Liz Lemon (their dog), both of whom are the best, and you will regret challenging him at Smash Bros.

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