This must be “piss off women” week in the Obama administration. Either that or it is a cleverly conceived ploy to get us used to diminished health care choices.
How? Introduce something controversial, claim no knowledge of it and get others to stand up for the status quo (while never really refuting or rebuking the new recommendation) thereby lulling people into a false sense of security about nothing having been changed when, in fact, it has.
First it was breast exams.
Now it is pap smears.
You think this is all coincidence? Everything this administration does is choreographed for a specific end result.
Why do you think they picked two procedures most women hate?
Sure, there will be some outrage about “rationing” but I guaran-damn-tee you many women are heaving sighs of relief at not having to have their breasts squeezed unmercifully or having hard metallic objects waltzing inside their “naughty bits.”
Looks like those in their 20s will only need to get them every two years because…..are you ready for this…..cervical cancer is slow growing.
Now, that’s not to say that many women will not mind this (especially the ones with a current health care plan) as it means no more sitting with your legs in the stirrups every year.
Most women in their 20s can have a Pap smear every two years instead of annually, say new guidelines that conclude that’s enough to catch slow-growing cervical cancer.
The change by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists comes amid a completely separate debate over when regular mammograms to detect breast cancer should begin. The timing of the Pap guidelines is coincidence, said ACOG, which began reviewing its recommendations in late 2007 and published the update Friday in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The guidelines also say:
_Routine Paps should start at age 21. Previously, ACOG had urged a first Pap either within three years of first sexual intercourse or at age 21.
_Women 30 and older should wait three years between Paps once they’ve had three consecutive clear tests. Other national guidelines have long recommended the three-year interval; ACOG had previously backed a two- to three-year wait.
_Women with HIV, other immune-weakening conditions or previous cervical abnormalities may need more frequent screening.
Paps can spot pre-cancerous changes in the cervix in time to prevent invasive cancer, and widespread use has halved cervical cancer rates in the U.S. in recent decades. About 11,270 new cases will be diagnosed this year, and about 4,070 women will die from it, according to American Cancer Society estimates. Half of women diagnosed with cervical cancer have never had a Pap, and another 10 percent haven’t had one in five years.
Cervical cancer is caused by certain strains of the extremely common sexually transmitted virus called HPV, for human papillomavirus. There is a new HPV vaccine that should cut cervical cancer in the future; ACOG’s guidelines say for now vaccinated women should follow the same Pap guidelines as the unvaccinated.
But mark my words, they are plucking the low hanging fruit. Expect to see more of this.
And, guys? We’re next.
Expect a study to come out in the next few months saying 40 year old men no longer have to get probed once a year for a prostate exam. After all, it is a SLOW GROWING cancer. And men will heave sighs of relief.
And Obama wins another one.
You watch. Mark my words. It will happen. All in the name of saving money on government run health care.
