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.
What a strange question. While men may not have a cervix, they have a penis which can suffer HPV-related cancer.
Details, details....
So where is Perry getting his so-called 'authority' from, exactly?
....and pesky questions.
They can give girls the Pill without parental permission but can't give them as much as Tylenol or Advil.
A girl can have an abortion without parental permission or even knowledge but can't get her ears pierced on her own.
They don't care about people's health. It's all about control and money, and sadly there are way too many people who think that's just fine and dandy.
This country is so screwed up.
"The problem with communicable diseases is that one person's decision not to get vaccinated can affect other people. "
As long as you get vaccinated, then what do you care? As long as the shot is available to those other people, shouldn't it be their decision instead of yours?
If only half the population is to get vaccinated, which is useless IMO, then let it be the half that wants it.
Because vaccines simply decrease the risk of infection -- they don't eliminate it. If you have a tuberculosis vaccine and you live in a room full of TB cases, your risk of contracting TB are decidedly diminished but not insignificant. The benefits of vaccination are most apparent when vaccination is widespread or universal.
Because vaccines simply decrease the risk of infection -- they don't eliminate it. If you have a tuberculosis vaccination and you live in a room full of TB cases, your risks of contracting TB are decidedly diminished but not insignificant. The benefits of vaccination are most apparent when vaccination is widespread or universal.
There's something very Orwellian about this proposal, and to have it imposed by a Republican governor in one of our most conservative states is scary. What next, Governor Perry unveils mandatory diets for all Texans to fight obesity?
" So if we take the number of women/amount of cervical cancer cases stats from post #588 (1/15,000) and compare them to the chances of being raped (1/1000), it means a girl is 15 times more likely to be raped than to get cervical cancer from an HPV virus.
That being the case, when are they going to start handgun training courses in schools to prevent this 'epidemic'?"
Now you're talking. Self-defense courses are just as important as sex ed.
"What next, Governor Perry unveils mandatory diets for all Texans to fight obesity?"
No, that's the governor of Arkansas who wants to do that.
"Because vaccines simply decrease the risk of infection -- they don't eliminate it."
Now you're talking out of both sides of your mouth. If that's the case then the so-called "herd immunity" is a myth.
Governor Perry unveils mandatory diets for all Texans to fight obesity?"
If that will SAVE LIVES, especially the LIVES of CHILDREN then absolutely we should do it!
(that's sarcasm, by the way....in an earlier era at FR that wouldn't need to be explained but now, you gotta be careful around here)
Then why aren't boys required to get it?
If only half the population is going to get it, which by your own admission, isn't going to be effective in controlling the spread of the virus, let it be the half that wants it, as a matter of choice.
With that kind of reasoning, there shouldn't even be an opt out option, because that means not everybody is going to be immune so making it mandatory it useless.
The TB analogy is hyperbole anyway. That's an airborne pathogen, transmitted by coughing. The HPV isn't. Not in the same category at all.
For the State to offer an "opt out" is disgusting. The assumption is that the State is all-powerful and has the authority to mandate something that is this controversial and that the mere Citizen needs to take a positive, defensive measure and sign the state mandated form (by the way, what if the poor Citizen's rationale is not included on the form? What if they just don't like needles? What if they can't sign the form? Do they have to get the vaccination?).
Think about it this way. Imagine a world where a teacher was going to lead a class in prayer, but the children who don't want to pray have the right to "opt out". The ACLU would go freaking ballistic b/c they would say that the child and the parents should not be put on the defensive and made to feel like they are doing something out of the ordinary. Opting out is conceding that the State's position is fundamentlly sound but I as an individual don't want to play along.
The next step is for the State to reconsider the opt out and to make it tighter. Then the next step is to get rid of it altogether.
I would encourage anyone with a daughter in public school in Texas to neither opt out, nor to participate in the mandatory vaccination. That is, exercise civil disobedience. (Actually, I would say, get out of the public school but that is another issue).
This is beyond insanity.
What's the procedure for getting someone committed in Texas? because obviously someone there (ie whoever made this decision) has gone insane.
I do not think it should be mandated, but my daughter is two and she will most likely get this shot when the time comes. You asked if anyone had opted out and I said I did. The state keeps track of all vaccinations and they have a copy of my opt out form. It was simple. I also know that when I was teaching and there were students that didn't have vaccinations, the parent also had to sign a form stating that if there were to be an outbreak, their kids would be quarantined at home until the governor(?) declared the quarantine over.
If I pretend to believe that every FReeper bride was a virgin for a moment (a very laughable moment), we still have a society that refers to active boys as sewing their oats. I will raise my daughter to be a moral person and to pick a moral mate, but am not naive enough to believe that she will be a virgin and so will her husband on their wedding night. This virus is not reserved for the promiscuous. One time is enough and I do not know any man that had only been with one woman before they were married.
I also do not believe that the risk of cervical cancer for a teen deciding on whether or not to have sex even enters the decision making process. But that is just my opinion.
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