First the Breast Cancer Screenings,

and now the pap smear recommendations. Although the new recommendations appear to be based on science, medicine, and common sense, many people, including doctors, are resistant to them.

Some of the outrage may be fueled by concerns any health care reform may include some sort of rationing:

The backers of science-driven medicine, with its dual focus on risks and benefits, have cheered the elevation of data in the setting of standards. But many patients — and organizations of doctors and disease specialists — find themselves unready to accept the counterintuitive notion that more testing can be bad for your health.

“People are being asked to think differently about risk,” said Sheila M. Rothman, a professor of public health at Columbia University. “The public state of mind right now is that they’re frightened that evidence-based medicine is going to be equated with rationing. They don’t see it in a scientific perspective.”