Poll: 87% of Americans Want Science to Inform Public Policy
Lawmakers, listen up! (Photo: Getty Images)
A poll commissioned by Research!America and ScienceDebate.org has found that 87 percent of Americans say it is important that candidates for President and Congress have a basic understanding of the science informing public policy issues.
And the majority trend holds across party lines, with 92 percent of Democrats, 90 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of Independents making it known that when it comes to topics like healthcare, climate change, and energy — science matters.
Furthermore, 77 percent of those polled said that public policies should be based on the best available science (translating to 82 percent of Republicans, 81 percent of Democrats and 68 percent of Independents). And 84 percent said it is important for scientists to inform elected officials and the public about their research and its impact on society.
Given the current conversations in Congress and on the campaign trail, here are 3 key, science-based facts about women’s health.
Politicians, please take note.
1. How and Why Breast Exams and Mammograms Happen
Clinical breast exams — performed in-office by a woman’s OB/GYN — can be critical for early detection of breast cancer, particularly among young women and are recommended by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to be part of all annual well-woman visits.
Repeatedly mentioned in the recent House Oversight and Government Reform (OGR) Committee hearing regarding Planned Parenthood, a mammogram is not, as many on the committee questioned, the first step in a breast exam. Community health centers and even OB-GYNs rarely have mammography machines in their offices. Most are in hospitals or radiology centers, and doctors’ offices and health centers help their patients get mammograms at those facilities if they need to.
Related: Fact-Checking Planned Parenthood Chief’s Heated House Hearing
2. When Women Should Receive Cervical Cancer Screenings
Another question raised during the recent OGR hearing on Planned Parenthood’s receipt of federal funds through Medicaid and Title X reimbursements was the overall decline in the number of Pap smears performed annually.
Related: Most Women Who’ve Had This Type of Cancer Didn’t Show Symptoms
The best medical guidelines actually call for less frequent screening, and Planned Parenthood adopted these standards. In 2009, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists changed the recommendations on how often women in their 20s should get Pap tests – from once a year to once every five years. (Planned Parenthood updated its standards and guidelines to reflect this best practice.)
3. There Is No Medical Milestone Associated with 20-Week Gestational Age
Despite the recent influx of 20-week abortion bans passed at the state level, and the continued attempts by Congress to pass such a federal ban, medical experts such as Dr. Hal Lawrence, the executive vice president and chief executive officer of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, explains that “the 20-week mark is not notable from a fetal development standpoint.”
A recent study of outcomes of viability for live births at 22 weeks found that only 5 percent of children born at this point survive, all of them with severe mental and neurological handicaps. Furthermore, studies done on babies born at this age have only looked at babies without fetal anomalies. Abortions performed after 20 weeks are often conducted because of severe abnormalities found in the fetus that would prevent it from surviving outside of the womb, even if born at full term.
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