Posted on 05/31/2011 1:18:50 PM PDT by BereanBrain
AUSTIN (AP) -- Gov. Rick Perry ordered Friday that schoolgirls in Texas must be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, making Texas the first state to require the shots.
The girls will have to get Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that are responsible for most cases of cervical cancer.
Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass laws in state legislatures across the country mandating it Gardasil vaccine for girls as young as 11 or 12. It doubled its lobbying budget in Texas and has funneled money through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators around the country.
Details of the order were not immediately available, but the governor's office confirmed to The Associated Press that he was signing the order and he would comment Friday afternoon.
Perry has several ties to Merck and Women in Government. One of the drug company's three lobbyists in Texas is Mike Toomey, his former chief of staff. His current chief of staff's mother-in-law, Texas Republican state Rep. Dianne White Delisi, is a state director for Women in Government.
Toomey was expected to be able to woo conservative legislators concerned about the requirement stepping on parent's rights and about signaling tacit approval of sexual activity to young girls. Delisi, as head of the House public health committee, which likely would have considered legislation filed by a Democratic member, also would have helped ease conservative opposition.
Perry also received $6,000 from Merck's political action committee during his re-election campaign.
It wasn't immediately clear how long the order would last and whether the legislation was still necessary. However it could have been difficult to muster support from lawmakers who champion abstinence education and parents' rights.
Perry, a conservative Christian who opposes abortion rights and stem- cell research using embryonic cells, counts on the religious right for his political base.
But he has said the cervical cancer vaccine is no different than the one that protects children against polio.
"If there are diseases in our society that are going to cost us large amounts of money, it just makes good economic sense, not to mention the health and well being of these individuals to have those vaccines available," he said.
Texas allows parents to opt out of inoculations by filing an affidavit stating that he or she objected to the vaccine for religious or philosophical reasons.
Even with such provisions, however, conservative groups say mandates take away parents' rights to be the primary medical decision maker for their children.
The federal government approved Gardasil in June, and a government advisory panel has recommended that all girls get the shots at 11 and 12, before they are likely to be sexually active.
The New Jersey-based drug company could generate billions in sales if Gardasil _ at $360 for the three-shot regimen _ were made mandatory across the country. Most insurance companies now cover the vaccine, which has been shown to have no serious side effects.
Merck spokeswoman Janet Skidmore would not say how much the company is spending on lobbyists or how much it has donated to Women in Government. Susan Crosby, the group's president, also declined to specify how much the drug company gave.
A top official from Merck's vaccine division sits on Women in Government's business council, and many of the bills around the country have been introduced by members of Women in Government.
Nomiate a TRUE CONSERVATIVE, not a CORRUPT FAT CAT who makes south american dictators look honest.
BTW, the Texas HOUSE AND SENATE voted overwhelmingly to OVERRIDE Slick Rick's "purchase order" to his buddies for dangerous vaccines to be forced on schoolgirls.......Glad we have SOME conservatives in Texas.
You posted an AP article? Without the source? And no excerpt???
5, 4, 3....
This is SO WRONG. Supposedly the vaccine only has a 5 year “coverage” and this can only be spread by CONTACT of a sexual nature. It also has some deaths connected to it.
How did he sign it after they overrode it? That is confusing... and fast.
Yeah, my bad, should be pulled an quoted correctly.....
But that does not change the story, for those of you who think Rick hung the moon....
If it had passed they would have extended it to boys by now.
And you did it over here too.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/2727733/posts
Look. I’m not the posting police or anything. But haven’t you been here long enough to know how to post?
I do know this: the mods usually just delete the whole thread whenever stuff like this happens. It’s easier than fixing it.
They would vaccinate my daughters over my dead body. Rapidly progressing ALS in healthy teenage girls has been associated with this vaccine.
For the first time in my life I am glad that we don’t live in Texas.
It’s from Feb, 2007.
Wow, going back to the grooveyard of forgotten favorites (2007) are we? PDS?
Concur. Violating the integrity of any person’s physical entity is unconscionable.
"We don't know for sure if it's coincidence or if they're connected [to the vaccine]," she tells WebMD. "We hope that by raising awareness, we will become aware of any other cases."
from this article: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=106662
My hairdresser has a family history of cervical cancer so she fell for the “better safe than sorry” routine from her pediatrician. Her daughter got the vaccine at 12. Now, she tells me that the same pediatrician has stopped recommending it since he read several medical reports that it may be linked to infertility. I feel horrible for her. Her beautiful daughter is 18 and who knows what her future may hold. OVER MY DEAD BODY WOULD my daughters get that vaccine.
Link? This is AP, excerpting only. Sheesh, you must really hate Perry.
I can't stand Perry either but posting things without their date are a little disingenuous.
I thought this was a dead issue.
Like Rick or not, this is a really cheap shot. Someone needs punished for this. If listed as sarcasm that is one thing. This is another.
We all knew he supported this when it first came out (bonehead mistake then), but this is a clear lie.
Here is the probable source. The AP article is listed with no source there too.
That’s strange. That link goes to the same title, but only a few lines of the article are available there.
Where did BereanBrain get the rest of the article from?
I suspect his butt.....
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