The Nation - News from June 18, 1987

Cancer victims and their advocates urged Congress to pass a bill banning job discrimination against people who survive the disease, saying they are not covered by current laws. “There is life after cancer. It should be a full life of quality and equal opportunities, not one of narrow prejudices and stunted dreams,” Barbara Hoffman told the House Education and Labor subcommittee on employment rights. Hoffman, a disability rights attorney with the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, said there are 5 million cancer survivors in the United States and at least 25% of them have experienced job discrimination on the basis of their medical history.