Almost lost in the hubbub of the recall election is Proposition 54 -- one of the most regressive ballot initiatives in many years.

Intended to promote a color-blind society, in reality the measure will have a devastating impact on women's health.

Prop. 54 bans the collection and use of information about the race and ethnicity of Californians by public agencies. This information is essential for county, city and state public health departments in tracking emerging health trends, epidemics and genetic health issues that disproportionately affect specific groups in California.

As policy-makers, we need this kind of information about the health of residents to identify areas that need extra resources. And we need this information to accurately measure success and make government more accountable. Prop. 54 bans all of this.

Prop. 54 will prohibit updates to the data that is used by epidemiologists and other public health researchers to determine trends in health. For example, osteoporosis is more common among Caucasian and Asian-American women than the general population. Cervical cancer occurs more often in Asian-American women. African-American women and Latinas have a higher rate of death from diabetes and lung cancer, while a higher number of Caucasian women report breast cancer.

All of these diseases are either preventable or treatable if people know what to do and do it early. Prop. 54 will make it virtually impossible to target education and health care to particular populations where it can make the most difference. That's why the California Medical Association and many women's organizations oppose Prop. 54.

Without the ability to gather and analyze information, we'll have no way to learn about where health problems are emerging and how effective prevention and treatment approaches are. Not only is this morally wrong, it is fiscally stupid. Taxpayers deserve the assurance that their tax dollars are well spent on programs that really work.

The opposition to Prop. 54 is wide and deep, ranging from Tom Woods, the co-author of Prop. 209 (which ended many types of affirmative action), to California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. But the opposition means nothing if people don't vote. The good news is that if you're registered to vote, there are easy options for voting. You can vote Oct. 7 at the polls or, better yet, vote earlier at the Alameda County Courthouse in Oakland.

Vote "no" on Prop. 54. Our health depends on it.