Whether Gardasil works or not is not the point. The POINT is that a Governor should not bypass the State Legislature... and by Executive Order make a such a vaccine MANDATORY. Furthermore the Vaccine was to be given to minors WITHOUT the consent of the parent... Venereal warts and any downstream cancer they may cause are not in the same category of disease such as polio that causes paralysis and even death in the very near term. Plus the spread of disease like polio causes great societal harm in the short term.... Thus Perry’s actions were rightfully overturned by the Texas Legislature. Oh and then there is the unsavory situation of financial kickbacks destined to Perry for forcing the use of the vaccine by the hundreds of thousands of doses.
Up until that time, the Legislature had delegated sole authority to determine mandatory vaccines to the Department of State Health Services, which is in the Executive branch. The Governor appoints the Commissioner, and has every right to direct him or her.
Mandatory vaccines are never given without parental consent. If the child does not have the vaccine and the parents have not formally “opted out,” the child cannot be enrolled in Texas’ schools.
The Legislature also made the decision to change from Opt in to opt out and have tightened the requirements for opting out. At the time, the parents were required to go to Austin or mail a request for a form with an official seal - but they didn’t specify the exact nature of the form. Perry’s EO also directed the DSHS to make the form available on line, with an equivalent “seal” and to educate parents about the opt out process.