Sen. Pat Roberts apologizes for flippant comment about mammograms
With quips like this, it's almost as if Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) got his degree from the Mike Huckabee School of Joke-Telling.
On Thursday, Talking Points Memo reporter Alice Ollstein tweeted that she had asked Roberts if he supported getting rid of "essential health benefits" as part of the American Health Care Act, the Republicans' proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act. His response? "I wouldn't want to lose my mammograms."
Roberts quickly became a prime example of a boob that doesn't need a mammogram. People immediately started calling him out, including Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), who tweeted: "Cancer is no joke. Mammograms save lives. Same reason we pay for prostate exams. Government shouldn't decide what care women can access." Roberts did tweet an apology, saying he "deeply" regretted his comments "on a very important topic. Mammograms are essential to women's health, and I never intended to indicate otherwise."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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