While railing against the Democrats' health care reform bills this year, GOP Rep. Mark Kirk has repeatedly played fast and loose with some key facts. But in an email to supporters of his U.S. Senate campaign today, he takes his truthiness to a whole new level.

The subject of the email is "Could the Government Deny Mammogram Coverage?" and the body is presented in the form of a questionnaire. Greg Sargent has the Senate candidate's answer over at the Plum Line:

This month, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended eliminating mammograms for women ages 40-49. The panel concluded that while thousands of women’s lives would be saved by continuing the test, “the net benefit is small” for the population as a whole.

Currently, this is only an advisory recommendation. But under the health care bill moving through the Senate, this recommendation could become law.

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK: Should women between the ages of 40 and 49 be denied access to life-saving mammograms?

Sargent notes that this bears striking resemblance to the baseless "death panel" rumors parroted by conservatives over the summer. If the current health care reform bill in the Senate is approved, women would not be denied access, in any way shape or form, to mammograms. The recommendation -- made by the United States Preventive Services Task Force -- that women in their 40s should not routinely have mammograms (unless they are at high risk for breast cancer) because of the risks associated with the treatment would be purely advisory. The New York Times editorial board writes that there is “virtually no chance that any insurers, either public or private, will deny coverage to anyone based on these recommendations.” More from Sargent:

Kirk’s email doesn’t clarify whether an actual government panel would make the decision to deny women life-saving mammograms. Nor does it say whether the decision would be based on the patient’s productivity in society, as Sarah Palin’s death panels were structured (by her, at least) to do.

But the death panel overtones of this latest are unmistakable. Palin has given birth to an entire new genre!

Rich Miller's most recent Sun-Times column illustrated that Kirk's Senate campaign, so far, has leaned heavily on two of the oldest political maneuvers in the book: flip-flops and scare tactics. This email definitely falls into the latter category. (Steve Benen has more.)

UPDATE (3:25 p.m.): Democratic Senate candidate David Hoffman responds in a statement:

"There is no way the United States Senate would ever approve a health care bill that denies women an annual mammogram.

Mark Kirk has once again resorted to shameless fear mongering and partisan politics. For the hundreds of thousands of dollars he has taken from the health care industry, this is how he pays them back:  He tries to scare women into believing that their health care will not allow mammograms.  This kind of rhetoric is disturbing to anyone who has had a friend or loved one who has been touched by breast cancer.  It has become increasingly clear that Mark Kirk has no shame."

UPDATE II (4:25 p.m.): Giannoulias campaign manager Tom Bowen also responds in an email to supporters this afternoon:

It's because of Washington games like this that Rich Miller, a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, recently called out Kirk for his "over the top, hyperbolic, error-riddled, extremely partisan fear tantrum".

We need Senators who are loyal to the truth and to the middle class, not ones that are addicted to smears and insurance company money.