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GOP Senator Apologizes for Mammogram Quip

Joked about women losing mammogram coverage.

Republican Sen. Pat Roberts on Thursday apologized for a remark he made earlier in the day about health-care coverage for mammograms. “I wouldn’t want to lose my mammograms,” Roberts quipped, according to a reporter who asked him if he supports scrapping coverage for the procedure. This prompted a firestorm of criticism, including from Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier, who replied: “I don’t want to lose my prostate cancer screenings either.” In a tweet, Roberts apologized: “I deeply regret my comments on a very important topic. Mammograms are essential to women’s health & I never intended to indicate otherwise,” he wrote. The back-and-forth comes as the White House and Republican leaders in Congress are scrambling to pull together enough votes for the American Health Care Act, a replacement for Obamacare.