We weren’t surprised that Senator Olympia Snowe co-sponsored or that Susan Collins voted for the Mikulski amendment on mammograms. But Senator David Vitter’s vote, the only other from a Republican, was a shocker.
Vitter’s vote was wrong on so many levels. I say this as somebody who urges women to get mammograms before the age of 40. I was appalled at the recent government recommendations that women wait until then. But Vitter’s yes vote says, in effect, that, yes, indeed, your mammogram is the government’s business. It tries to tinker with an overwhelmingly bad piece of legislation. With or without mammograms, this bill would have a dampening effect on our economy and would make heretofore private decisions a government matter. It would be the greatest loss of freedom in the history of our nation.
Vitter is the first crack. He showed the danger of being susceptible to propaganda. This bill is overall horrible for women. But presenting an amendment as pro-women, the supporters got one gullible Republican to go along. I wonder if Vitter was particularly vulnerable to this because of his past problem with women. Whatever his reason, opponents of this disastrous bill should not let this betrayal go unnoticed.