Over 15,000 children will be diagnosed with cancer this year alone in the United States, and more than 40,000 will undergo the harsh treatments we would all describe as a living hell. The majority of the kids who survive will suffer throughout their life from the side effects of the treatments, and one out of eight children diagnosed with cancer will not survive; If the cancer doesn’t take them from this world, all too often the treatment does.

Childhood cancer receives a sad 4% of the National Cancer Institute’s budget for research, and in 2010 the American Cancer Society allotted 1% of their funds to research childhood cancer. The numbers are similar for other research programs and, more times than not, children in this nation are left with mere crumbs. The number of drugs approved to specifically treat children approved in the last 20 years can be counted on one hand, and the options available for children are a sad reflection of our skewed priorities. The weaker victims of this horrific disease deserve our support and, sadly enough, their latest battle found them at odds with the White House. They’ve since been offered an apology, but we must ask how an event of this magnitude gets overlooked in the first place.

Secret Service boots cancer-stricken kids from park near White House http://t.co/3Wca8KeMIR #CureFest #DC #cancer pic.twitter.com/XQpnDofadi

— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) September 21, 2015

Authorities order cancer-stricken kids, supporters to leave park by White House over security concerns: http://t.co/08bjZlbvRr

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 21, 2015