Every year, free mammograms, colonoscopies, and cancer screenings save thousands of lives. Most Americans don't pay a dime for these tests because a panel of independent medical experts — the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force — recommends which screenings insurers and Medicaid must cover at no cost. That panel is now under political attack.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has canceled four scheduled meetings, ousted two vice chairs, and shrunk the task force from 16 members to 8. The agency overseeing it is operating with 70 percent fewer staff. Now, a political appointee is handpicking new members — replacing experienced primary care doctors with specialists chosen for their politics, not their expertise. One person being considered for appointment has a daughter inside HHS who is helping run the selection process.

This is the same playbook Kennedy used to overhaul the vaccine advisory panel — and a former task force member has said so directly. As one health policy expert put it, "This feels more like a political process now."

Recommendations on prostate cancer screening, cervical cancer screening, and perinatal depression are sitting in limbo while the panel is gutted. If the task force loses its independence, insurers could stop covering these screenings — and millions of Americans would be left paying out of pocket for tests that catch cancer early enough to save lives.

Sign this petition to demand that Congress restore the independence of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and protect free preventive care for every American.