Blogs Comment On Health Reform, Abortion Coverage, New Cancer Screening Recommendations

The following summarizes selected women's health-related blog entries.

~ "BlogTalk: Grading Obama, Abortion Flares," Maria Newman, New York Times' "The Caucus": Although several aspects of the health care reform debate "will be contentious," the Senate's bill has notably "reignited the debate in the country over abortion rights," Newman writes. Recently, "many voters sat through thinly veiled sermons during Sunday Mass about putting pressure on their congressional representatives to keep abortion from being funded through the health care plan," she continues. According to Newman, Eliza Newlin Carney on Monday wrote in National Journal that the "furor" of the debate "has brought fresh scrutiny to the nation's Catholic bishops, who've emerged as formidable lobbyists but who face virtually none of the lobbying or disclosure rules that apply to the rest of Washington." This has "angered some on Capitol Hill, who argue the Catholic bishops have stepped over the line, and prompted calls for more transparency and better oversight of lobbying religious organizations," according to Newman (Newman, "The Caucus," New York Times, 11/23).

~ "Senate Bill More Closely Preserves Abortion Status Quo," Jessica Arons, RH Reality Check: The Senate's health reform bill "maintains most of the Capps compromise," Arons writes, referring to an amendment introduced during House committee markups that "attempted to strike a balance and preserve the status quo on abortion funding." However, the Senate's language "inserts additional provisions to ensure that no federal money will be used to pay for abortion services beyond those currently allowed by federal law," she writes. While these provisions "may go further toward addressing abortion-rights opponents' concerns," they also may "require new concessions for abortion-rights advocates," Arons continues. She adds that more analysis "is necessary to determine the full ramifications of this new language on abortion coverage" (Arons, RH Reality Check, 11/24).

~ "Un-Pelosi: The Senator Who'll Kill the Stupak Amendment," Max Blumenthal, The Daily Beast's "Blogs & Stories": In an interview with The Daily Beast, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) "expressed confidence that the Stupak amendment would not appear in a final congressional health care reform bill," Blumenthal writes. Gillibrand said, "It shows great leadership on [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) part that he put in a provision that maintains the status quo and ensures that Stupak won't be in there," adding, "And I am confident we have 60 votes to get the bill through." She expressed that she is "confident that any Republican attempt to re-insert Stupak ... will be soundly defeated," Blumenthal writes, adding that getting the votes needed to pass such an amendment "is considered a near impossibility" in the Democratically controlled Senate (Blumenthal, "Blogs & Stories," The Daily Beast, 11/20).














~ "Here's Who Should Really Worry About Cervical Cancer, Doctors Say," Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times' "Booster Shots": Recently revised cervical cancer screening recommendations "might worry some women accustomed to getting screened every year," but most doctors say they should not be alarmed, Roan writes. The women "who should be worried, physicians point out, are those who remain under-screened," she writes, adding that half of the women who die from cervical cancer never had a Pap test and that 10% had not been screened in the five years before detection (Roan, "Booster Shots," Los Angeles Times, 11/19).

~ "GOPers Tie Breast Cancer Change to Health Care Reform," Eric Zimmermann, The Hill 's "Blog Briefing Room": Republican senators on Friday "tried to make the case ... that new recommendations on breast cancer screening foreshadow the rationing that would take place under Democratic health care reform," Zimmermann writes. The guidelines say that most women do not need to get mammograms before age 50, with biennial screening after that. According to Zimmermann, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said during a leadership press conference that there is a "concern about rationing" under the Democrats' health reform plans, which she said "we're seeing ... play out a little bit" through the new breast cancer screening guidelines. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "has said that her department does not agree with the panel's recommendation and urged women to continue regular screenings at age 40," Zimmermann writes (Zimmermann, "Blog Briefing Room," The Hill, 11/20).

~ "Senate's Women Could Sway Health Bill," David Herszenhorn, New York Times' "Prescriptions": "Controversial issues in the Senate often do not get resolved until a bipartisan 'gang' is formed to strike a deal," Herszenhorn says. He adds that "there is the possibility" that a "Gang of Four" -- Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) -- will be "calling the shots" in the chamber's health reform debate. "If it happened, it would reflect women's rising power in the Senate more generally," he writes, adding that the "role of women senators could also highlight a battle taking place behind the scenes to restore a package of preventive health services for women that got dropped from the bill because of cost concerns." The package included screening for ovarian cancer and postpartum depression (Herszenhorn, "Prescriptions," New York Times, 11/23).

~ "Another Look at Stupak-Pitts," Lanny Davis, Huffington Post blogs: In a previous column, Davis stated that his opposition to the Stupak amendment in the House bill (HR 3962) was not enough to jeopardize his support for health care reform. He now writes that the angry response to that column has shown him that "[t]here is an opportunity for compromise." According to Davis, "the one thing everyone agrees on" is that the "Hyde Amendment status quo should not be disturbed." To achieve compromise, "pro-choice supporters will probably have to give up a public option that includes abortion coverage," though Stupak supporters in turn should "support a proposal that requires at least one insurance policy on a state exchange include abortion coverage so long as another, identical policy does not include abortion coverage," Davis argues. He continues, "If this doesn't fly with Stupak supporters, then they will prove that their agenda is not about preserving the Hyde status quo, but rather, to make it more difficult for women to obtain an abortion under the new health care system" (Davis, Huffington Post blogs, 11/20).

~ "The Mammogram Mess," Paul Waldman, The American Prospect: The uproar over the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's new mammogram guidelines "shows how opportunistic politicians can be ... and how as a country we have an inherent bias toward more health care, whether or not it's better health care," Waldman writes. The controversy over the guidelines -- which say that "regular mammograms before age 50, for women who have no risk factors like family history or a smoking habit, do more harm than good in aggregate" -- also reveals how difficult it can be to debate health claims based on aggregate data when abundant personal anecdotes support a different conclusion, according to Waldman. "[N]ews reports about this issue have been filled with women testifying about the success of their own pre-50 mammograms," including women "who can say, 'If I hadn't had a mammogram when I was 41, I'd be dead,'" Waldman writes. "The other side will be represented by a scientist wielding a stack of studies and figures," he adds. In rendering judgments, people "put more weight on what we can see and what happens to the people we know than on abstract calculations of risk and reward," Waldman notes. Ultimately, "[t]his episode, in which a nonbinding recommendation by a panel of experts with no power to impose anything on anyone was whipped into a firestorm of fear-mongering, suggests we won't be having a reasoned discussion about the efficacy of mammograms anytime soon," Waldman concludes (Waldman, The American Prospect, 11/24).


Reprinted with kind permission from nationalpartnership. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.


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