All cancer screening is optional, including pap tests to screen for cervical cancer. Unfortunately, some women mistakenly believe pap tests are mandatory.
The mistaken belief that pap tests are mandatory is mainly due to the fact some doctors fail to inform women that they have the right to refuse pap tests, pelvic exams, and any or all screening tests and examinations. Some doctors may even withhold health care and medications unless women agree to screening.
Media also plays a role in promoting the illusion that pap tests are mandatory.
- Emphasizing or exaggerating potential benefits while minimizing or ignoring potential harms
- Framing screening as if it were a mandate, not a choice
- Emphasizing patient anecdotes of people who claim their life was saved by screening – something that can’t be proven
- Missing the stories of people who make rational decisions not to be screened, or the stories of people who regret making ill-informed screening decisions
Schwitzer also states it’s “
The tendency of media to frame screening as if it were mandatory together with some doctors’ failure to disclose the fact that all screening is optional helps to explain why some women remain unaware of their right to refuse pap tests and other screening.
forwomenseyesonly 
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-making-cervical-screening-more-accessible/health-matters-making-cervical-screening-more-accessible–2
The NHS and Public Health England (PHE) have previously put out information about how all screening is a choice etc. When the number of women who decline cervical screening increases they seem surprised, blaming it on “barriers” that women have. They are now back to their old tricks of trying to chase down women to increase uptake. I thought the whole thing about allowing informed consent was too good to be true!
Exactly! Women are starting to make their informed choice, but they continue to use the barrier crap as our excuse, of which there is no excuse needed for an optional test! Not even a mention of Informed Decision in that part about reasons for not attending!
The figure given England cases 2590/deaths 726 then UK cases 3224/deaths 890 – I’m struggling as to how they worked that one out England v UK?
Also they are calling these cases actual cervical cancer, when in fact CINIII & CIS (which is not cc) IS INCLUDED in these figures, we know most of CINIII/CIS do not develop further to cancer! So at best those numbers are just a “guestimate” because they still do not know which abnormal cell will turn and which will not!
IMO I believe, they may also include CINII in those figures but can’t be sure, again not actual cancer but this bumps up the figures which is minimal anyway when considering the amount of women in UK/England! They continue to lie but of course only to women!
My Niece who is 24.5 years old has just received her invite/order for screening LOL I will assume the next time she visits our same GP this will be flagged up on screen and discussed, proceeded with the tactics to convince her to participate, thankfully I have managed to pass on all the information learnt here at FWEO and other places to allow her to make her own decision, she has decided NOT to join the herd…………YEY another young informed woman! I look forward to her update when she tells our GP as she will mention/say – “you do know who my aunt is don’t you” LOL, he’ll be very unhappy, oh yes he will remember me from the time I finally stood up to him whilst he was seated to repeatedly say NO very loudly, he got the message, that he shouldn’t have hounded me for months about it! She has the same mind-set now and knowing her like I do she will not be bullied into it. IF she has symptoms or a problem she will seek help but only then.
Kiwi the little nugget about actual deaths being 3 in every 100,000 women. I’m so scared I’ll book my smear 1st thing tomorrow! (Sarcastic kat)! Why do they still flog this dying horse?
LOL Me too Kat, I’m so scared can we go together and hold hands, let us pray for our lives as our female bodies are riddled with disease and a ticking bomb waiting to go off! Must dash and make that appointment…..LMAO x
Sure thing Chas! ! Lol x
Ha ha I should too! Yeah but Nah!
Hi, i’ve been reading a lot about the hpv and it seems that it can lie dormant only to be reactivated at any given time. I find this concerning. I’ve not had a smear for ten years, I am 51 now and worry myself sick that I could have cc. I have been with my partner for 16 years now but did have other sexual partners before that. Could I still be carrying the hpv for all this time? I have severe health anxiety and a phobia of doctors and anything medical.
Can anyone alleviate my fears?
Tracey, the idea that HPV can lie dormant in your body is a theory, nothing more. It’s not been proven. I think everyone’s latched onto this idea and is talking about it as it’s a proven fact because it’s a great way of scaring us into submission. There’s a huge industry built up around cervical screening which employs hundreds of thousands of people, and they need vast numbers of us to roll up for smears on a regular basis to keep them in those jobs. Every time there’s any change to the program, these parasites crawl out and bleat about how this will be ‘bad’ for women, when they’re really just worried about the damage this may cause to their careers!
If you’re concerned about your HPV status you can buy self-testing kits online – there’s no need to submit to the speculum.
Well said Kate. The other reason for suggesting that HPV can lie dormant and somehow reappear to get you, is to keep those women who are HPV negative from opting out of the screening programme. They will insinuate that you may be HPV negative now but……….
Agree with Kate. You shouldn’t have to pay so much for these tests, but if you want to know whether you still have HPV they can get the results to you in a week. Superdrug online and test.me sell for about £50.
So considering i’ve been with my partner for 16 years and had a smear ten years ago would that not mean that i’m not carrying hpv? I don’t want to put myself through any kind of testing as this increases my anxiety to the point of not being able to function on a daily basis.
Also, just wondering if any of you agree to bowel screening and mammograms, I have declined both of these in the last year. Am I being reckless with my health?
Tracey, they didn’t test for the presence of HPV back then, so having a ‘normal’ smear doesn’t mean anything. The smear test is as reliable as a chocolate teapot and can’t be trusted anyway. Seriously, I would consider the home-testing kit – the NHS may start offering these at some point in the future for us ‘naughty’ girls who haven’t had a smear for years, but if they ever do it won’t be for a long, long time. They’ve already run trials on these testing kits and discovered that the results are just as good as the samples collected during a routine ‘smear’, and that non-screening women are more likely to use the kit than submit to the speculum, so there’s no valid reason not to use them.
On the other hand, I have absolutely no trust in the NHS anymore and I’d rather use an online kit than entrust my physical and mental wellbeing to a healthcare system which is riddled with so many targets and incentives.
Mass screening sounds like a wonderful idea, but the harsh reality is that you end up harming many more people than you can ever help, and it gobbles up huge amounts of money and resources which are desperately needed elsewhere. People invested in cancer screening are so enamoured with their ability to ‘save lives’ that the poor buggers who are harmed along the way are viewed as collateral damage and brushed aside.
I shall no doubt be receiving invitations to breast screening in a few years time and have decided that I will NOT be going. Ever. The evidence that it does more harm than good is very clear.
I’m not convinced on bowel screening, either. Even though it’s a common cancer and I would have no complaints about using a self-sample kit, it seems to produce a very high false positive rate and this would put me at risk of having unnecessary procedures or surgery.
If a day comes when tests are created which can correctly identify genuine cancers instead of labelling every little blip in your body as ‘potentially pre-cancerous’, you can sign me up. Until then, no thanks. So no, I don’t think you’re being reckless.
What I mean is if I had hpv would I still be carrying it now? Do you have the hpv testing or anyone else on here?
I worry so much that if I develop cervical/bowel/breast cancer that it will be my fault for not having the screening. How will my kids feel towards me?
I am also appalled that the bowel screening tests can cause so many false positives which lead on to unecessary invasive testing. The false negatives are scary too, i’ve read so many stories of people who dutifully do the test which comes back negative only to find out at a later date that they do have bowel cancer! It’s an awful situation and because of my health anxiety I am living my life worrying about getting cancer.
I will look into the hpv self tests.
Tracey McLeish, The only thing I can suggest to you is that you continue to do as much research as you possibly can, till your blue in the face and are feeling more confident in whatever YOU choose to do… When I first started looking into trying to find out the truth of these matters, it was at a time when there was really nothing to go on and information was being blocked and made limited, but thankfully nowadays it’s getting easier to learn the facts, even in some news articles the truth is coming out in much more obvious drips. And, if you are able to look at your family’s medical history on both sides that can sometimes be helpful in relation to genetic concerns, but DON’T just go on say a first relative basis as most Doctor’s tell you to do, the job of most Doctor’s and their Nursing staff unfortunately is to scare you into testing and over testing, because their main goal/concern is money NOT in listening for a more complete story … So you’d Really need to look into it for yourself, how did that person or person’s that you know of if any have lived their lives and how their lifestyle’s may have attributed to their risk factors for certain cancers etc.? For example for me it’s my Birthmother and one great Aunt, that I know of both with female cancers and neither one lived very healthy lifestyles and in fact both have lived quite the opposite, as for the rest of that family I don’t know either way at all. While, on my Father’s side the only one with cancer of any kind was an Uncle who was a chain-smoker. You may also look into genetic testing if that’s a possibility for you, but for most that’s NOT likely covered by insurance, etc. You can also look at your own day to day health for answers, too if you haven’t already for how you may or may not be at risk for cervical/bowel/breast cancer. And while I do believe in self checks of breasts etc. I DON’T believe in doing them to the point to where one is panicking over every little change, Doctor’s often say come in at the first sign of any change, but too, many times fail to mention that monthly changes and stress often bring on added lumpiness. A website I found useful is https://bcaction.org/ FYI it’s NOT another PINK Ribbon website. As, for HPV testing some people on this website have mentioned self testing kits but, if you do decide you want to get tested at the Doctor’s office or if you can’t get the kit where you live, either I pray you find a kind and caring Doctor and if you don’t know of one that you have a friend or relative you can ask for a good recommendation to a kind and caring Doctor that they trust. Hope this helps.
Thank you Anna,
My aunt on my father’s side died of breast cancer in her fifties. My uncle on my mum’s side died of lung cancer in his thirties, he was a heavy smoker and drinker. My aunt on my mum’s side had lung cancer and is fine now, she’s also a smoker, I think she still smokes
now!
My mum died at 45 of a stroke, she was a heavy smoker. My dad had a heart attack in his sixties and had MS, he died at 78. Both my grandmother’s died at 94 and 86. No gynecological cancers that I know of.
I’m sorry for being a pest but my anxiety is atm almost causing me to withdraw from life and as I work and have 5 kids and 3 grandchildren I cant afford to do this. As i’m menopausal I worry that if I go for a smear i’m more likely to have some changes show up which could mean I would have to have treatment. If that happened I worry that I would simply stop functioning.
I bought the book by Margaret McCartney and have found it very helpful. I will try to gather more information but if you could maybe link me to some other info I would appreciate it very much.
No, NOT worry your NOT a pest. Your just concerned about your health and your family’s well being. As far as links go honestly it was bits and pieces of truth hidden amongst the lies, that I gathered from websites such as the Huffington post, The NY Times and the occasional medical website or woman’s/Teen Magazine website and Basically anywhere you type and see changes to the guidelines and conflicting interest pieces that’s what would spark my interest, as to why these Doctor’s were still doing this to me and why they were being so, forceful with the issues… Including leaving embarrassing messages on my home phone for other’s to hear and high jacking my appointments for other non female related ailments. I know it’s hard but try your best NOT to over worry and stress about this it could make you sicker with ulcers, headaches and upset stomach. An informed person is a stronger braver person and whatever you decide to do as far as the age old question to test or NOT to test you may want to talk to your children about your decision. I’m sorry the medical community is so, full of lies and harsh criticisms, their goal should be to help people rather than harm them and for some it is but NOT nearly enough of them I’m afraid. This website http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/ had a posting from a woman who made me feel better about the choice I made NOT to test and even https://www.plannedparenthood.org/ also made me feel better about NOT testing though that probably wasn’t their goal.
Tracey have you checked out the references section of this website as it is a good collection of links people have contributed over the years. As well as googling Dr McCartney there are some other good names to Google: Drs Iona Heath, Michael Baum, Peter Gøetzscheto mention a few.
Enrolment in the National Cervical Screening Programme
After you’ve had your first smear test, you’ll automatically be enrolled in the National Cervical Screening Programme – joining more than 1 million other women.
Benefits of being in the programme
The National Cervical Screening Programme means every woman who takes part contributes to, and receives the benefit of cervical cancer prevention – we’re all helping each other, every time we take a test.
Ladies, here is the information they put up on our new website in NZ called “Time to Screen”.
I get such a warm, fuzzy feeling that I am helping my fellow sisters by spreading them for a smear test!! Oh, that’s right, I forgot that I have made an informed decision to opt off!!!
I just sent this to an online prescription service that asks about pap smears in order to prescribe the pill. The website says they’re “required” which is false, as here in Australia they’re legally optional (but pushed on every woman regardless). You guys are welcome to copy and paste if you ever want to do the same!
“Hello,
I was disappointed to see the words “pap smears are required” in your online questionnaire, as they are an optional test.
You should not be coercing or withholding medication based on someone’s legal decision to opt in or out to an optional test.
Please correct this wording to “pap smears are optional”.
Thank you,
Sarah”
And 1 year latter refuse to see me.
I my goodness so if a doctor refuses to give meds and tells the nurse what a baby and force you to do. Is that rape?.
I am pregnant md my doctor told me it is andarory in the state of New York to have a Pap smear if pregnant . Is this true? Can’t find any information on line about it. Maybe in New York is different ? Please advise . All my pap Smears have come with good results and my last one was done about a year and 4 months ago but doctor said because I’m pregnant I have to,I have refused but she is insisting to have one in my next appointment.
Thank you
Hi Ingrid, I’m in the UK so I can’t advise on New York law. I doubt very much that paps are mandatory though. Other countries advise against routine testing during pregnancy or immediately after birth. Unfortunately it seems that doctors in the US are often above the law and get away with telling their patients that tests and procedures are mandatory or a requirement for ‘care’ when they’re not even necessary and are potentially harmful.
He us trying it on. What is it with doctors that they think they can pretend pap smears are mandatory? Pap smears are not mandatory. These creatures need to know our bodies are not up for grabs on a whim. Just stand your ground. Dont be afraid to be rude or even agressive if you have to. Protect yourself.
The doc is definitely trying it on. No women ever needs a Pap test. I suspect the good doctor wants to charge you for an unnecessary procedure. They’ve got to pay for those yachts somehow.
On a more serious note, ask the doc to show you the actual mandatory legislation. In writing.
Firstly no way is this mandatory……ever, for whatever reason….never mandatory! Secondly a test like this whilst pregnant could cause a miscarriage! Do not do it, refuse as they cannot force it on you….they cannot forcefully hold you down to take the test. I’m in the UK & my niece is pregnant (due this month) and her midwife has not done any internal exams whatsoever, she never even mentioned cervical screening! It is a complete try one & if I were you would be reporting them immediately, to even say it is mandatory is ridiculous, shame on them to try to trick you into it! Please stand your ground with a firm NO. Good luck Ingrid.
Don’t worry Ingrid I’m pregnant too and I refused the pap- you’ll be fine. I’m in Maine and have a midwife but the patient bill of rights which is country wide states pretty clearly that any patient of sound mind is free to decline any procedure at any time for any reason. http://www.health.ny.gov/publications/1500/
During my 1st appt i just advised my midwife in a very matter of fact manner that I opted out of cervical cancer screening. I stated i was aware of the risks and benefits and that i was comfortable with my decision. She just shrugged and said she was required to inform me and handed me a brochure about it. That was about it.
Drs can throw a fit if they want, they can stomp their feet and shout about risking your/baby’s life (don’t fall for it) but your body is yours and the decision is yours. Be respectful but firm and just say that you are refusing the pap for the duration of your pregnancy. Also if she continues to ignore your wishes try to find another OB/midwife. If she’s not respecting your decisions over a pap then how can you trust her to respect the more crucial things down the line?
Where do our pap smear cells go to, especially in the military? When I left the military I requested my DNA specimen to be permanently deleted, too. It took awhile because the female representative said that the director was on leave. I received a letter stating the specimen was destroyed, but how do I really know? I want NOT PART in medical research and all of this other medical nonsense (cloning, IVF, etc…) AT ALL!
I was raped at the age of 23 during a military gynecology exam at the military base. After the exam, which I thought was over, he stroked an object, the swab I believe it was, inside of me and tore my hymen. He said it was so I do not feel pain during sexual intercourse.
I mean, who said I was going to fornicate after receiving the exam? Who is he to dictate what happens in my life? Right? Gynecology exams are forced on women in the military. All females were overdue for screening that day. The female witness did not document her name, nor did she help me. NCIS did not want to help me either it seems.
I noticed these predators “just love” doing gynecology exams on women, the female doctors especially, which I find interesting. Then if they notice it seems like something is wrong, they want to refer you to a psychiatrist.That seems to be the only time when doctors are most excited to see women. I am so glad The Messiah is returning with HIS WRATH AND JUDGEMENT! I WILL NOT miss this place!
I also noticed “sudden harassment” and bullying for my organs when I went to do a medical directive my first time, which is also strange. I had never been to the legal office on the military base, so how is it they seemed to know who I was? I said I DO NOT wish to be an organ donor, and she did not put it in my medical directive, and based on her look, she did not think I would catch that.
The female lawyer said doctors can pull the plug on me if they choose, too. That did not sound nor feel right to me. I mean, what, they were/are trying to “get rid of me” now? Was that a death threat? I perceive it to be. How would they know if I would be dead anytime soon?
The military put me in false light for saying “NO”. I mentioned Henrietta Lacks to them when I filed a grievance, then there was “silence”. Why is Washington D.C. sending me a packet full of negative information about me for a medical directive, and I live on the west coast?
I also noticed it seems people know when I am going to arrive somewhere and what I am going to purchase or who I want to see or what requests I have. I do not tell anyone where I am going or what plans I have. So how is this possible?
I remember after my little run in with the legal office, I went to an army office to speak to a CAC card representative, and two men were standing by the door as if they were trying to cover up something. They said something is wrong with the system. The CAC representative seemed like he did not really want to admit to something nor know anything. Funny thing is, I have never been in the army.
The medical industry is PLAIN SICK! I am also noticing people approaching me saying I look just like a girl they know. They all happen to be younger than me. That is very strange and abnormal for that many people to look like me at different locations.
I pray they do not have any specimen of my cells or anything on file. It is sickening to me my body has been violated for the love of money and personal gain, if it be the case. I DO NOT owe anything to anyone. My military contract was to perform military duties and deploy, “nothing further”.
Just like the pap test, the supine position of giving birth evolved due to a voyeuristic perverted man. https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/theres-a-really-creepy-reason-why-women-mainly-give-birth-lying-down-/