Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report Highlights Women's Health Policy Issues Related To 2006 Elections

The following highlights recent election-related news on women's health issues.

• Idaho: Democrats and breast cancer survivors on Monday held a rally near the state Capitol in Boise to call on state Rep. Bill Sali (R), who is running for a U.S. House seat against former high-tech executive Larry Grant (D), to stop linking abortions with an increased risk of developing breast cancer, the AP/Twin Falls Times-News reports (Miller, AP/Twin Falls Times-News, 10/30). Sali in an interview last week said that women who undergo abortions are "at increased risk" of developing breast cancer. In February 2001, after several studies showed inconsistencies about a possible link between abortion and breast cancer, the World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute and other medical groups concluded that having an abortion does not affect breast cancer risk (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/26). The rally, which organizers said was nonpartisan, was headed by state House Minority Leader Wendy Jaquet (D), who is a breast cancer survivor. Grant spokesperson Don Rosebrock also attended the rally. "They're trying to silence one side of the debate," Sali said, adding, "The truth is I can't prove that I'm absolutely right, and they can't prove that they're absolutely right. It needs to be a part of the debate if we care about women." Grant, who supports abortion rights, called Sali's stance on the issue "bad science" and "bad medicine," adding, "It's the politics of fear. Those folks in Bill Sali's camp have strong feelings about their position, and they try to scare people into their way of thinking" (AP/Twin Falls Times-News, 10/30).
  
  
• Maryland: U.S. Rep. Ben Cardin (D) and Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R), who are running for U.S. Senate, on Sunday in a televised debate on NBC's "Meet the Press" presented different positions on human embryonic stem cell research, abortion and other issues, the Baltimore Sun reports (Skalka, Baltimore Sun, 10/30). Steele said that he would support research conducted on embryonic stem cells if embryos were not destroyed in the process, the Washington Post reports (Mosk/Marimow, Washington Post, 10/30). Steele has said that he supports embryonic stem cell research with "some moral compass to guide" it (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/26). "[A]s a society, we must consider the religious, the moral and the ethical values of that society, and that needs to be a part of this as well," Steele said. Cardin, who supports expanded federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, said, "The difference between Michael Steele and myself is the difference between moving forward with embryonic stem cell research or not." Steele declined to state whether he would support overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that effectively barred state abortion bans. "I think Roe v. Wade is a matter that should've been left to the states to decide," Steele said, adding, "But it is where it is today, and the courts will ultimately decide whether or not this gets addressed by the states, goes back to the states in some form or they overturn it outright." Host Tim Russert asked Cardin, who supports abortion rights, about why he voted against legislation that would have required minors to consult parents before seeking an abortion (Baltimore Sun, 10/30). "Parents should be involved in their children," Cardin said, adding, "The problem is you don't want it to become an obstacle, particularly where there has been family abuse. ... You don't want it used as a way of preventing a child from getting the necessary medical attention" (Washington Post, 10/30).
  
  The complete transcript of the "Meet the Press" debate is available online. A video excerpt of the segment on embryonic stem cell research is available online in Windows Media. A video excerpt of the segment on abortion rights is available online in Windows Media.
  
  
• Nebraska: Nebraskans United for Life has withdrawn its endorsement of Jim Esch (D), who is running for a U.S. House seat against Rep. Lee Terry (R), the Omaha World-Herald reports. According to John Lillis, chairman of NUL's political action committee, the group revoked the endorsement because Esch's support for human embryonic stem cell research and in vitro fertilization is "contrary" to the group's beliefs, the World-Herald reports. The endorsement originally was based on Esch's answers to a candidate questionnaire and a two-and-a-half hour meeting, according to the World Herald. Lillis said later statements made by Esch in a radio interview contradicted his answers on the questionnaire, which led to the withdrawal of the endorsement. Esch said that his position on the issues has not changed and that the questionnaire's wording is "misleading" (Gonzalez, Omaha World-Herald, 10/28).
  
  
• Wisconsin: Former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) in an advertisement for U.S. Rep. Mark Green's (R) gubernatorial campaign counters claims by incumbent Gov. Jim Doyle (D) that Green opposes human embryonic stem cell research, the AP/Kansas City Star reports. Doyle and his supporters said Green voted against a bill (HR 810) that would have expanded federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and has promised to sign a ban on therapeutic cloning. Green has said he supports President Bush's policy of limiting federal funding for studies using embryonic stem cell lines created on or before Aug. 9, 2001, and opposes the use of tax dollars for research that destroys embryos. He also has proposed a plan to finance $25 million over four years to develop a technique in which stem cells are obtained without destroying embryos. Thompson in the ad says, "Jim Doyle has failed us, and he's lying about Mark Green to cover it up. Mark supports stem cell research -- don't let anyone tell you different." Doyle spokesperson Anson Kaye said Green's claim that he supports embryonic stem cell research "is one of the central frauds" of his campaign, adding, "It doesn't matter how many times he says it or who else he gets to say it for him, Congressman Green opposes stem cell research, and if he were governor it would grind to a halt in Wisconsin" (Foley, AP/Kansas City Star, 10/27).
  

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