Yesterday I went through the imaging scanner at JFK Terminal 4 for my Virgin America flight to San Francisco. Evidently they found something, because after the scan, I was asked to step aside to have my breast area examined. I explained to the agent that I was a breast cancer patient and had a bilateral mastectomy in April and had tissue expanders put in to make way for reconstruction at a later date.

I told her that I was not comfortable with having my breasts touched and that I had a card in my wallet that explains the type of expanders, serial numbers and my doctor’s information (pictured) and asked to retrieve it. This request was denied. Instead, she called over a female supervisor who told me the exam had to take place. I was again told that I could not retrieve the card and needed to submit to a physical exam in order to be cleared. She then said, “And if we don’t clear you, you don’t fly” loud enough for other passengers to hear. And they did. And they stared at the bald woman being yelled at by a TSA Supervisor.

To my further dismay, my belongings, including my computer, were completely out of sight. I had no choice but to allow an agent to touch my breasts in front of other passengers.

TSA has repeatedly promised more humane security since last November yet has continued to abuse millions of passengers. This is just one of the countless number of humiliations and assaults they have committed. Last month they removed a Toledo mother from a flight in Detroit in handcuffs, strip searched her and questioned her for six hours before realizing she was just a mother from from Toledo. This is an example of TSA compassion and what they have "learned" from their abuses.

TSA is a jobs program creating an illusion of airline security. After nearly a trillion dollars over eight years they can't cite one success. Meanwhile 60% of the freight in the cargo hold remains unscreened, half of that from foreign shippers.

Add to that the 52 TSA screeners arrested this year for serious crimes, including two last month, one for rape and the other for murder. Of these, nine have been for sex crimes involving children. They can’t prevent crime within their own ranks, but we’re supposed to trust this agency with airport security.

There is no excuse to harass and humiliate this woman simply for the "crime" of flying. The guards at Treblinka were just doing their job too and sadly even had those who excused their atrocities.

This is a clear failure in management and explains why so many abuses are occurring. Pistole and the senior staff of TSA have failed miserably in managing this agency and it must be abolished.

Why, as a society, are we so protective or irrational over cancer survivors and not the others?

I find the lack of a basic understanding of the laws that TSA operates under in this forum “disgusting”.