What were they thinking? A panel of scientists has issued guidelines for breast-cancer screening that could undo years of education and advocacy that have saved tens of thousands of lives. In a report that smacks of health-care rationing, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that instead of annual mammograms after the age of 40, women should wait until age 50 to receive regular screening, and then only every other year instead of annually.

“They acknowledge more women between 40 and 49 will die,” sputters Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who has introduced legislation aimed at making women in the under-50 group more aware of their breast-cancer risks. As someone diagnosed at 41, the congresswoman knows how important it is for women in that age range to understand that the tumors they develop are likely to be more aggressive and diagnosed at a later stage than those of older women. That’s why breast cancer is the No. 1 cancer killer of women between the ages of 40 and 49.