The AP reports that a group opposing the current health care reform legislation has "outraged" Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper, who recently lost both parents to cancer.
The ad reflects on the US Preventive Services Task Force's breast cancer screening recommendations from last November. Among the distortions in the ad are its claims that the "government panel that didn't include cancer specialists says women shouldn't get mammograms until age 50. ... If government takes over health care, recommendations like these could become the law for all kind of diseases."
That isn't what the task force said. And the big government takeover theme is classic rhetorical fear-mongering.
More from the AP:
"Dahlkemper called for the ad to be pulled. But its sponsor, Americans for Prosperity, has refused.
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"In the past month, I've lost both my parents to cancer," she said in a statement. "It's truly disgraceful for outside groups to then attack me for not being tough enough on cancer."
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The nonpartisan group Factcheck.org denounced the ad for its "sheer number of falsehoods." Politifact, another independent group, gave the ad its lowest rating for truthfulness and accuracy: "Pants on Fire."
AP reports that Dahlkemper was targeted in an ad campaign that is being echoed throughout 18 Democratic districts.
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