Posted on 09/17/2011 7:29:48 AM PDT by Askwhy5times
The short answer is no. The long answer is also no. It is true that trying to implement this vaccine regime by EO was wrong. Perry readily admits that mistake. However, the vaccine is actually a good idea. It is not an assault on innocent 12-year old girls as Michelle Bachmann claimed. It also does not cause retardation as Michelle Bachmann misinformed the American public. The misconception in many people's mind is, since HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, the government is preparing 12 old girls for sexual activity at an early age. That is false. In order for this vaccine to work correctly, it has to be given at that age. The protection they get is a few years down the road. Waiting until the girls are adults and can make their own informed decision will not work. It will be too late for them to take advantage of this potentially lifesaving vaccine. Heather Borden Herve over at Wilton Patch explains:
HPV is also the most common sexually transmitted disease today.A better approach for Gov. Perry would have been to offer the vaccine for free and promote it to parents through a public education program, but hindsight is always 20-20. BTW, the story about Rick Perry sitting at the deathbed of a friend dying of cervical cancer is true. Here name was Heather Burcham.A-ha! Is that what makes this issue hot and—pardon the media parlance pun—sexy? Because somehow when the topic of “innocent little 12 year old girls” gets mixed up with protecting them from a virus that gets transmitted through sexual contact, it suddenly gets to be co-opted by politicians on the basis of protecting moral values—and it gets them airtime.
In full disclosure, I grew up in a household that was comfortable talking about science, medicine and fact. My dad is an OBGYN, so we weren’t afraid of using correct anatomical terminology or talking about human sexuality. It’s formed the basis for the way I approach issues like this one.
The science shows that in order for this vaccine to work it needs to be administered before a person becomes sexually active. According to a statement released by the American Academy of Pediatrics following the media uproar after Bachmann’s comments, they “recommend that girls receive [the] HPV vaccine around age 11 or 12. That’s because this is the age at which the vaccine produces the best immune response in the body, and because it’s important to protect girls well before the onset of sexual activity.”
That recommendation was echoed by the CDC and American Academy of Family Physicians....
"The American Academy of Pediatrics would like to correct false statements made in the Republican presidential campaign that HPV vaccine is dangerous and can cause mental retardation. There is absolutely no scientific validity to this statement. Since the vaccine has been introduced, more than 35 million doses have been administered, and it has an excellent safety record."
This isn't just a woman's issue. HPV is also a major risk factor for penile cancer.
Opting in would have given her parents that option also. So do you believe that we should require that everyone get the flu vaccine every year? How many people die each year from complications of the flu?
If a Rat had done the same thing that Perry had done, most people who are supporting Perry would have been screaming bloody murder.
The bride would still have the free choice to get the vaccine as an adult prior to marriage.
I respect that answery totally, and if you come to that conclusion after looking at a ten year record, then that’s a totally valid point of view. I would only make the following potential caveats:
A: When looking at a ten year record, keep in mind the contrast that will occur when you look at candidates with no record of being the person in charge. For example, I saw where one Bachmann backer actually bragged that she had never issued such an executive order. Well no kidding, she’s never been an executive. Just need to keep this in mind is all I’m saying.
B: Keep in mind that there is a fine line between reducing the Federal government’s power and increasing state government power. What I mean is, and it’s a damned difficult thing to judge, is that a person could be Constitutionally consistent by believing it is ok for a state or a county or a city to do something while violently opposing the Federal government’s right to do the very same thing. THIS is the underlying issue behind every decision as Governor that Mitt or Perry made that will cause conservative angst. And of course, then there’s the issue of whether any government entity should be involved, and that’s a valid argument. Like I said, this one is tough to measure sometimes.
C: There are realities - yes, ugly awful realities - of winning elections in certain states that do not extrapilate to winning nationally. As conservatives, we will NEVER get the government we want without Florida and Texas going the right way in Presidential elections. And yet, no one - NO ONE - can be successful in those two states without doing some things on certain issues - like immigration - that cause consternation. Again, this is a damned tough and sometimes nuanced road to navigate sometimes. I don’t claim to have 100% clarity here, just pointing out the intellectual problems we will face as conservatives.
For example, a Perry Rubio ticket - which would be an infinite improvement upon Obama Biden - and preferable overall to a Romney ticket - would still cause some conservative heartburn based on Texas and Florida consituents that they’ve had to answer to up to now.
Just some thoughts on why picking the right person ain’t easy and will always be somewhat unsatisfying in the end.
Also, the three round dose requires six months to complete. When a teenager decides to become sexually active, it usually doesn't involve "now that I decided, I'll be patient and wait six more months."
Except in Texas and some other states. In 2003, Texas Legislature along with Governor Perry modified our process so that a parent could opt out of any (or all) vaccine and do it solely for personal choice. It was no longer required to be a religious or medical reason.
I find it interesting that I am expected to compromise on core values (to vote for a candidate with a radically different vision of the essential nature and proper scope of government) whereas Texans have no similar obligation to compromise on illegal immigration (an issue in which those who support it are 100% morally wrong and treasonous).
BTW, Conservatives are of course much more cerebral and high tone when it comes to little girls ~ they sit there and pause and think about it before they say "Duh, I should defend the little girls" (/s).
You'll find that the average person on our side the aisle thinks more highly of the tiny woman who lept to the defense of the little girls (irrespective of the logic of her arguments) than the grinning gentleman who got involved in telling those same girls what's good for them!
A wise man puts an adult woman between himself and those issues.
The federal government does not mandate vaccines. The CDC and some other agencies maintain a recommended list, but the requirements are done by the states.
Currently only Virginia and D.C. require the HPV vaccine.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/21/AR2011012106878.html
Virginia Governor Tim Kane signed the HPV vaccine mandate into law last year after it was revised to include an "opt-out" provision that did not require parents to claim medical or religious reasons for the "opt-out.
http://vaccineawakening.blogspot.com/2008/01/action-on-virginia-opt-out-gardasil.html
In D.C., the requirement is:
"responsible person objects in good faith and in writing, to the chief official of the school, that immunization would violate his or her religious beliefs."
http://www.nvic.org/Vaccine-Laws/state-vaccine-requirements/district-of-columbia.aspx
I never said I expected you to compromise. I simply said that there are unfortunate complications in a country this size to picking the right leaders. And I said it will always be somewhat unsatisfactory. I also said I am not sure at times where to draw the line.
I don’t make the rules, I am just recognizing some realities which I do not particularly like either.
The point of my post was to cite the moral factor as a reason why people oppose mandatory vaccination for diseases like Hep-B, HIV, or HPV, while not opposing vaccines for diseases like mumps, rubella, measles, or pertussis.
The main difference between you and I is that you filter everything through your kool aid.
I have no kool aid flavor picked at this time, so I don’t have that impediment.
Recommendation? Get some Oxy Clean for your kool aid stains.
The reality is that the inability to agree on existential matters is a prelude to civil war. If Texas wants to be reacquired by Mexico then it is time to let them go. California can go with them.
If mandatory vaccination for HPV has been considered to provide a worthwhile ‘benefit’ to society, then shouldn’t males be vaccinated as well? Why should men be allowed to continue unabated as the carriers of this contagious ‘cancer virus’?
The executive order written by Governor Perry stated:
Parents’ Rights. The Department of State Health Services will, in order to protect the right of parents to be the final authority on their children’s health care, modify the current process in order to allow parents to submit a request for a conscientious objection affidavit form via the Internet while maintaining privacy safeguards under current law.
By the way - the mandated vaccine that Alaska uses for Hep-B is made by - Merck.
These are the required vaccines in Alaska.
http://www.epi.alaska.gov/id/iz/factsheet/IZReqFactSheet.pdf
Note in Alaska you can get an exemption for medical or religious reasons. However, you cannot get an exemption due for personal choice. In Texas you can get an exemption based upon personal choice.
The topic you've selected to smack down the little woman about is Gardasil. The reality is the people walking in to vote remember the "little woman" part, and nothing about the far more complex Gardasil part.
It has to do with the fundamentals of human nature. We have the males, the females, the chilluns ~ and, the babies.
The male must always be viewed as PROTECTIVE and the female must always be viewed as WILLING TO FOLLOW THE MALE, and more importantly, to LITERALLY PUT HER LIFE ON THE LINE, NO MATTER HOW IRRATIONALLY, IN DEFENSE OF THE CHILLUNS.
M. Bachmann is doing the defense of children part tremendously well ~ even though you don't see it. R. Perry screwed up on the "family defense" question by appearing to prefer to DOMINATE the chilluns, rather than assist the female in protecting them.
Like he said, and you don't understand, he made a mistake ~ and this is the mistake he's talking about.
Anybody who has ever had to write a novel, be a state governor, produce federal regulations or issue decisions concerning those matters, knows well that when your work slops over into "the human family structure" you must be very careful.
It is entirely too easy to go from nurturing figure who defends his females and chilluns, and their babies into wild chimpanzee from the other end of the woods!
Sarah Palin knows how to trip everybody up on that stuff ~ and she's been right every single time. And it has nothing to do with "Momma Grizzleys" ~ it has to do with "Human Family".
Governments aren't there to allow or not allow. Let me give you a refresher as to what America is about:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
In America, governments exist to secure the rights of the people, not to tell the people which of those rights they may be allowed to exercise at the government's discretion.
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