For years, women have been warned of the dangers of breast cancer and the importance of early detection. Part of that early detection includes receiving regular mammogram screenings. On the heels of a recent panel, which changed breast cancer screening guidelines to age 50, rather than age 40, House Republican women are speaking out.

Various national news publications, including the New York Times and Politico, covered a press conference yesterday with House Repubiican women gathered to push back on the guidelines. From Politico:

It’s “an example of how government-run decisions could be made,” said Representative Cathy McMorris Rogers of Washington State, who gathered other female members of her caucus to condemn the findings on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

The United States Preventive Services Task Force, said Monday that women should start regular breast cancer screening at age 50, not 40, and that doctors should stop teaching women to examine their breasts on a regular basis.

“This is how rationing began, said Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. “This is the little toe in the water and this is how you start getting health a bureaucrat between you and your health care.”

The women stopped just short of questioning the motives of the government panel as Democrats and the administration look for ways to cut costs should they get their bill through Congress.

“The timing is very curious to me,” Ms. McMorris Rogers said.

The women are joining a chorus of criticism from the medical community, the general public as well as bloggers and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.