The Star Tribune today reported about how the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) relied upon politics, rather than science, when crafting our state's health care policies. http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4254410.html
According to internal documents obtained by the Star Tribune, "abortion politics caused MDH to publish unreliable information about breast cancer, compromising the agency's stature as a source of accurate health information." In late September, upon the direction of Governor Tim Pawlenty and Health Commissioner Dianne Mandernach, MDH claimed on its web site, and in other informational materials, "that having an abortion might increase [a woman's] risk of breast cancer," and removed all mention of unbiased scientifc evidence to the contrary.
Last spring, the National Cancer Institute convened a panel of 100 breast cancer experts and they concluded that while some small, flawed studies published before the mid-1990's had found a link to breast cancer, larger more reliable studies showed no connection between abortion and an increased risk in developing breast cancer.
Prior to the Governor and Commissioner's late September decision, MDH's web site, and other informational materials, made reference to the National Cancer Institute's findings when discussing the alleged link between abortion and a woman's risk of developing breast cancer.
Governor Pawlenty and Commissioner Mandernach's decision was met with hostility and anger by many within the Department of Health. The Star Tribune reported that "Mary Manning, the department's director of health promotion and chronic diseases, which includes breast cancer, complained the agency had taken an 'untenable' scientific position" in claiming a link between abortion and an increased risk in developing breast cancer.
According to Ms. Manning, other members of the department felt compelled to speak out against the Governor and Commissioner's decision, but didn't because they "feared that they would be fired." In an e-mail to a top Health Department official, Ms. Manning said, "the fear is growing beyond what is reasonable."
When asked when the decision was made for MDH to make the false claim that a woman who has an abortion increases her risk of developing breast cancer, Commissioner Mandernach admitted that she could not recall. She could recall, however, that "both Pawlenty and Minnesota Citizens Cincerned for Life (MCCL), an advocacy group that opposes abortion, were consulted about the changes. After all, according to the Commissioner, "it was their legislation" that required MDH to create these informational materials.
Additionally, the Commissioner recalled that "abortion rights advocates and those who provide abortion were not consulted."
While Commissioner Mandernach sounded somewhat willing to take responsibility for the Health Department's position on breast cancer and abortion in interviews with the Star Tribune, documents obtained by the paper illustrate the pressure she was under to conform to the false claim that abortion can cause an increased risk of developing breast cancer. At one point, in an e-mail to Governor Pawlenty's Deputy Chief of Staff, Commissioner Mandernach expressed reservation about the Governor's suggested response to critical editorials of MDH's claim about the alleged link between abortion and breast cancer: "[These] are statements that cause all loss of credibility for me with the Medical community."
What is clear after reading the Star Tribune article is that not only does the Commissioner lose credibility by being forced to advance the political agenda of Governor Pawlenty and extremist groups like Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, but our Health Department loses its credibility as well.
Please, contact your State Senator and Representative and tell them that Minnesota's Department of Health should be focused on advancing public health, not the political agenda of the Governor and MCCL.
"Who history does not teach it makes numb."
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