Former Congresswoman Mia Love Shares Open Letter to America in Her Final Days While Dying of Brain Cancer: ‘My Living Wish for You’

Former Utah congresswoman Mia Love has written an impassioned letter to America as she spends her final days with friends and family.

Love, the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor, in 2022. She first shared her diagnosis publicly in May 2024 with CNN’s Jake Tapper. Earlier this month, Love’s daughter Abigale tweeted from her mother’s account that the cancer was no longer responding to treatment.

The former politician, 49, was first elected to represent Utah’s fourth district in 2014, and went on to serve a second term. She confirmed that her final days were upon her in an open letter published by Deseret News on March 11. “I am taking up my pen, not to say goodbye but to say thank you and express my living wish for you and the America I know,” Love began.

After detailing her most recent health updates, and explaining that she is now focused not on treatment but on enjoying her final moments with those closest to her, Love went on to outline her view of America, citing her upbringing as the daughter of Haitian immigrants.

“The America I know is grounded in the gritty determination found in patriots, pioneers and struggling parents, in small business owners with big ideas, in the farmers who work in the beauty of our landscapes and the artists who paint them, in our heroic military and our inspiring Olympic athletes, and in every child who looks at the seemingly impossible and says, ‘I can do that,’ ” she wrote in her letter.

Love continued, “What makes America great is the idea that when government is limited and decisions are made closest to the people they impact, people are free — free to work, free to live, free to choose, free to fail and free to achieve. The America I know provides everyone an equal opportunity to be as unequaled as they choose to be.”

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“The America I know will continue as long as each of us simply remember that this country is exceptional — because it is! I know it is! I can see on the horizon that our best and brightest days as a nation are still to come,” the mother of three wrote.

She concluded by inviting people to connect with her on social media in the coming days, where she promised to share additional thoughts, excerpts from her 2023 memoir Qualified and more.

Love finished her letter by writing, “I thank each of you, and all of you, for being part of my journey in the American dream. You and I, we the people, will be forever connected in the cause of this country we love.”

On a more personal note, she added: “In the end, I hope that my life will have mattered and made a difference for the nation I love and the family and friends I adore.”