Posted on 02/02/2007 1:28:44 PM PST by YCTHouston
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry ordered today 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.
"Why doesn't he just EO everything then?"
Exactly! Representative government is sooooo boring. Why "punt it to the legislature" when you can issue royal proclamations??? Nothing like streamlining democracy.
Did the Guv just call all Texan girls sluts?
The disease of Republican governors mandating this vaccine is apparently becoming a worse epidemic than cervical cancer itself. I just heard on local talk radio that the Republican governor of Florida is planning to do the same thing.
I hear Perry was bought for a lousy $6000.00 Wonder how much Merck donated to Governor Crist's campaign?
I think LadyNavyVet makes some good points in post #273 also. Instead of promoting women to seek good health care this may in fact, give them a false sense of security via false advertising.
FYI
Pretty much. And he doesn't trust their parents to take care of them either.
What stats have I used?
None.
You continue to mischaracterize my remarks, and are increasingly calling me a liberal, which anyone with any brains or history at this forum knows is total BS.
Is that all you've got?
Please, do not vaccinate your children for anything. Especially anything they might get in a sinful manner. That's your choice. It's still your choice today in Texas.
I'm not sure when getting vaccines became a liberal idea instead of common sense, but this thread proves it.
"I hear Perry was bought for a lousy $6000.00"
Their cheif lobbyist in Texas is also Perry's former Chief of Staff. The article lists several other connections.
But yeah, he comes pretty cheap.
Hubby thinks Perry is speaking to "Texans for Lawsuit Reform on the 20th". Can anyone verify this? He may not have the correct information.
Interesting.
If the folks administering it COULD be trusted, this one would probably be a good one for a lot of girls to have given morals the way they are these days.
But that's a lot of if, to me. Who knows what fool thing the government will be coerced into doing these days.
Or just choose to do in a Machiavellian way.
Maybe at the same time mandating vaccines for STD's -- unless you explain yourself to an Official Government Vaccine Person -- became a conservative one?
You are a liberal. You favor governmental control of our lives. That's liberal. Anyone can puruse your posting history and see for themselves.
Hence the problem with your claim that preventing genital warts is just a bonus. The stats show that this vaccine prevents far more cases of genital warts directly than cancer indirectly, so your claim is wrong.
Please, do not vaccinate your children for anything.
No. I'll simply vaccinate them against the usual airborne pathogens. HPV can be prevented without the cost or government mandate by simply giving them a proper upbringing rooted in morality and Christian ethics. IOW, teach them that it's wrong to act like sluts no matter how much Rick Perry thinks otherwise.
I always bet on the Law of Unintended Consequences. Instead of the virtual 100% cure rate we currently have with annual paps and prompt followup treatment, we will now trade that for an assumed 85% effectiveness of the vaccine.
Merck should at least be required to clearly and unequivocably inform every girl who gets the vaccine and her parents that it does not protect against all strains. But that little factoid is hidden pretty well in the fine print.
I'm sorry, metmom. I do know about antibodies and the way they work to resist the virus. "Killing the virus" is a shortcut way of saying all that. I should have been more precise to prevent debris being hurled from the sidelines.
Thank you.
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