RSS Feed
May 15th, 2013 
Angelina Jolie decided to have a double mastectomy as she is at high risk of breast cancer.
Source: Herald Sun
A NORTHERN Territory minister has come under fire on Facebook after bizarrely weighing in on Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy.
Country Liberal Party member and MP for Katherine, Willem Rudolf Westra van Holthe sparked a flurry of angry Facebook responses after posting this on news.com.au’s Facebook page last night:
Willem Westra van Holthe weighs in on Angelina Jolie’s double masectomy.
Source: Facebook
Mr Westra van Holthe was referring to a story in which Brad Pitt called his fiancee “heroic” and praised her decision to undergo the radical surgery after discovering she carried the breast cancer gene that killed her mother at 56.
Pitt was quoted saying: “Having witnessed this decision firsthand, I find Angie’s choice, as well as so many others like her, absolutely heroic. I thank our medical team for their care and focus.
“All I want for is for her to have a long and healthy life, with myself and our children. This is a happy day for our family.”
The National Breast Cancer Foundation CEO Carole Renouf said Mr Westra van Holthe should not judge Pitt or Jolie.
“Based on (the foundation’s) experience, it is very normal for a husband like Brad Pitt to feel his wife is ‘heroic’ if she chooses to confront her risk of potentially fatal disease by having a double mastectomy,” Ms Renouf said.
“It is not up to us to judge the choices any woman or man makes in these situations.
“Angelina has made her purpose in going public with her news very clear. She wants to demonstrate that the level of information we have today, generated by research, is power. And that each of us can harness that power to make informed choices.
“Her choice was about valuing life over high profile body parts, for the sake of her children. Her own experience, of losing her mother to cancer at a young age, really marked her.”
Angie Rodriguez wrote on the news.com.au Facebook page: “No one is saying she is more heroic than others that have had it done… but the sad truth is we don’t get to hear those women’s heroic stories. So hearing this one prompts others to share their stories too and that’s what it’s all about. So why all the negativity?”
Rose Wares: “I think any husband would say the same thing about their wife had they made this same decision. There is no need for the negativity just because its a celebrity couple, that just shows your own level of pettiness.”
Ali Gee: “Very disappointing to read some of the negative comments on here. Having your breasts removed – whether by choice or not – is an extremely confronting thing to have to do. Maybe the negative comments are coupled with the person they relate to. If it was the nation’s sweetheart who chose to do this, I am pretty sure your comments would be completely reversed.”
Ironically, Mr Westra van Holthe made headlines in 2010 after getting in a fight with a man in a pub over his own wife’s breasts.
According to a report in the Northern Territory News, the incident occurred at the Katherine Country Club “when a stranger approached (Mr Westra van Holthe’s) wife, who was standing with a group of female friends, and prodded her in the chest”.
“He did not touch my wife’s breasts otherwise I would have killed him,” Mr Westra van Holthe told the paper after the incident.
He suffered a black eye during the fight.
NT Minister Willem Westra van Holthe came off second best after a bar fight over his wife’s breasts. Picture: NT News
Source:
Mr Westra van Holthe did not respond to attempts by News.com.au to contact him for comment. His spokesman said he was on business in Singapore.
My Medical Choice, by Angelina Jolie – the article every woman should read
Source Article from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newscomauthenationndm/~3/e0J3HiErZ2E/story01.htm
Posted in 
