Obama Speaks Out on Ovarian Cancer

President Barack Obama lost his mother Stanley Ann Durham to ovarian cancer in 1995, and now he's continuing his fight against cancer in the pages of Harper's Bazaar.

The Commander-in-Chief shared a special message with the magazine's July issue, a statement that covers his personal statement and his promise to fight the disease which claimed the lives of 21,650 American women in 2008.

"My mother died of ovarian cancer at the age of 53, and in those last painful months she was more worried about paying medical bills than getting well. For millions of Americans, my mother's story is all too familiar. That is why we need health-care reform that guarantees affordable coverage for every American who wants it and prevents insurance companies from discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most," says Obama. "We know this fight will not be easy, but we have gone far too long without necessary reforms to our healthcare system. Now is the time to commit ourselves to waging a war against cancer as aggressive as the war cancer wages against us."