Brown vetoes breast density bill

An ultrasound image of a suspicious lesion in the left breast in a 76-year-old study participant. Source: Zhu et al

California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. has vetoed SB 791, which would have required mammography providers to notify women about their breast density and potential benefits of additional screening.

In issuing his veto, Brown referred to the potential anxiety that breast density information might provoke.

"For women, [health information] likely includes information about breast density. But the notice contained in this bill goes beyond information about breast density," he wrote. "It advises that additional screening may be beneficial.  If the state must mandate a notice about breast density--and I am not certain it should--such a notice must be more carefully crafted, with words that educate more than they prescribe.”

Similar legislation has been passed in Texas and Connecticut.