EMILY’s List’s WOMEN VOTE! To Educate Voters in Nevada

Each year, 4000 women lose their lives to cervical cancer.

According to the National Cancer Institute, an Estimated 4,210 Women Will Die of Cervical Cancer in 2010. According to the National Cancer Institute, an estimated 4,210 women will die of cervical cancer in 2010. [National Cancer Institute, accessed 8/19/10]

According to the Center for Disease Control, 3,976 Women Died from Cervical Cancer in 2006. According to the Center for Disease Control, 3,976 women died from cervical in 2006. This is the most recent year for which statistics are currently available. [Center for Disease Control, accessed 8/19/10]

Now – there’s a vaccine that can help prevent this deadly cancer.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the HPV Vaccine “Prevents the Types of Genital Human Papillomavirus (HPV) That Cause Most Cases of Cervical Cancer and Genital Warts.” According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the HPV vaccine “prevents the types of genital human papillomavirus (HPV) that cause most cases of cervical cancer and genital warts […] The vaccine is highly effective in preventing those types of HPV and related diseases in young women.” [Center for Disease Control and Prevention, accessed 8/19/10]

FDA Approved HPV Vaccine for Prevention of Cervical Cancer. According to an FDA press release, the FDA “approved Cervarix, a new vaccine to prevent cervical cancer and precancerous lesions caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18. The vaccine is approved for use in girls and women ages 10 years through 25 years […] The primary clinical study […] results showed that among women who had not already been infected by HPV types 16 and/or 18 before the start of the study, Cervarix was about 93 percent effective in preventing precancerous cervical lesions caused by these HPV types. Among all Cervarix vaccinees, which included those who tested negative for HPV 16 and/or 18, and those who tested positive at the start of the study, Cervarix was approximately 53 percent effective in preventing precancerous cervical lesions.” [U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 10/16/09]

But Joe Heck actually voted against requiring insurance companies to cover the vaccine.

Heck Opposed Legislation Requiring Coverage of Vaccine to Prevent Cervical Cancer. In April 2007, Heck voted against SB 409, legislation requiring both the state Medicaid program and private insurers to provide coverage of the vaccine preventing HPV for females of certain ages as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration. The bill says it is “an Act relating to insurance; requiring policies of health insurance to provide coverage for the human papillomavirus vaccine to protect against cervical cancer.” The bill passed the Senate 14-7 and the House 36-6. It was approved by the governor June 14, 2007. [SB 409; SB409 Bill Information; SB409 Senate Final Passage Vote, 4/13/07, 4/19/07]

Heck said women wouldn’t need it if they did not engage risky behavior.

Heck Opposed Mandating Coverage Of HPV Vaccine Because For Cervical Cancer The Three Main “Risk Factors Are Behavioral.” In September 2008 the Las Vegas Sun wrote Heck voted against a bill “mandating that most insurance companies include in their coverage the vaccine for the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV), often a precursor to cervical cancer.” The Sun continued, “Heck, of Henderson, told a 2007 state Senate committee that he had ‘philosophical objections to mandating coverage of the vaccine because there were preventable risk factors, including multiple sex partners, that sometimes lead to HPV transmission and then cancer. Here’s what Heck said at the 2007 committee meeting: ‘I do have a bit of a philosophical issue with this vaccine in that this type of cancer is, ah, three of the major types of risk factors are behavioral for this type of cancer.’ He compared it to a vaccine for lung cancer. ‘I wonder if it opens the door that, should some great day we develop a vaccine for the type of cancer that’s caused by smoking, are we then going to mandate that everybody who smokes needs to have an insurance-paid or government-paid vaccine?’ Democratic script writers drew an inference, fairly or not: Heck believes women shouldn’t be granted a vaccine to allow them to engage in risky sexual behavior.” [Las Vegas Sun, 9/24/08]

In Voting Against A Bill That Required Insurance Coverage Of HPV Vaccine, Heck Noted “That Women’s Behavior Can Put Them At Risk” To Get The Sexually Transmitted Virus. In September 2008 the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote, “Heck did vote against a bill that would have required insurance companies to cover a vaccine that helps prevent cervical cancer, saying it would have driven up the cost of health insurance and he wasn't convinced of its efficacy. And he did note, in debate on the bill, that women's behavior can put them at risk, since the vaccine protects against a common sexually transmitted virus.” [Las Vegas Review-Journal, 9/21/08]

Nevada NOW Criticized Heck For Voting Against Mandating Insurance Coverage Of HPV Vaccine. Jessica Brown, the President, Nevada NOW Board criticized Heck for his 2007 vote in the state legislature “against a bill that mandated insurance coverage of the Gardasil vaccine.” Brown wrote, “Nevada NOW has been asking why a physician would oppose a bill that would demonstrably increase public health by making more widely available, at no public cost, a vaccine that is proven to prevent cervical cancer caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV).” [Brown, Nevada NOW, 9/25/08]

Brown: Heck Compared Women How Contract Genital HPV To Smokers Who Contract Lung Cancer. Brown continued, “To explain himself, Heck compares the vast majority of women American women who will contract genital HPV to a smoker who contracts lung cancer. It is important to note here that conservative studies estimate one in five women nationally will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime, and that Nevada women are statistically more likely to be subject to coerced sex than the national average. We also understand from common sense that a woman cannot control the past or even the present partners of her husband, boyfriend or lover, so that a woman need not engage in ‘risky’ behavior to be at risk for contracting HPV or cervical cancer. For these reasons, most in the Religious Right, including most conservative organizations in Nevada, have dropped their previously stalwart opposition to the vaccine. Senator Heck stands to the right of almost everyone in his opposition to making the vaccine more widely available.” [Brown, Nevada NOW, 9/25/08]

This from a man who graduated from medical school.

Heck Graduated From Medical School. According to his campaign website, “Born in New York and raised in Pennsylvania, Joe moved to Southern Nevada in 1992. A 1984 graduate of The Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Health Education, he received his Doctor of Osteopathy from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1988, and completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in 1992. In 1993 he received Board Certification in Emergency Medicine and in 2000 was issued a Certificate of Added Qualification in Emergency Medical Services.” [Dr. Joe Heck for Congress, About Dr. Joe Heck, accessed 8/19/10]

Now Dr. Heck is running for Congress.

Heck Dropped Out Of Governor’s Race To Run For Congress. In October 2009 the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that “Heck, a Republican, officially announced he would drop out of the race for governor and challenge Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., for her congressional seat.” [Las Vegas Review-Journal, 10/7/09]

But if we can’t trust Heck with our health – can we trust him with our future?

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