Quite a LOT of reading there.
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.
Yikes!
Perry just called every middle school child in Texas a whore by signing this thing
That seems like an overreaction to me, taking something personally when it's a public health issue. You want to opt out for your daughter, fine. But the vaccination also protects women who marry as virgins but whose husbands either are not virgins or don't stay faithful.
BTW "whore" is one who specifically sells sexual services. Perhaps the word you wanted was "slut"?
LOL...just try and opt out for religious or philosophical reasons! That's the same thing we were told when they started drug testing my son who was in band. He could be randomly drug tested for no apparant reason or be in band. End of story. Same thing we were told when our tiny school went to uniforms. If a kid was in Scouts, sports, band, altar server, or anywhere else that "uniforms" were required, no opt out.
I did know some who went the religious opt out route on the drug testing. They ended up in court and lost.
Ultimately this decree will result in work for lawyers, which is the highest donating group of lobbyists in Texas.
And governments, including our own, promote such ideology.
Using that same "logic" we should also require all kids to start treatments that prevent the onset of AIDS. It doesn't matter if they have HIV or not - the fact remains that somebody who does could rape them.
What is with you people? Maybe you should ask yourself that. You're using the same type of arguments as the people who go to schools and try to hand out condoms. Those types normally inhabit DU, not FreeRepublic.
Guillain-Barré (ghee-yan bah-ray) syndrome is a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. The first symptoms of this disorder include varying degrees of weakness or tingling sensations in the legs. In many instances, the weakness and abnormal sensations spread to the arms and upper body. These symptoms can increase in intensity until the muscles cannot be used at all and the patient is almost totally paralyzed. In these cases, the disorder is life-threatening and is considered a medical emergency. The patient is often put on a respirator to assist with breathing. Most patients, however, recover from even the most severe cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, although some continue to have some degree of weakness. Guillain-Barré syndrome is rare. Usually Guillain-Barré occurs a few days or weeks after the patient has had symptoms of a respiratory or gastrointestinal viral infection. Occasionally, surgery or vaccinations will trigger the syndrome. The disorder can develop over the course of hours or days, or it may take up to 3 to 4 weeks. No one yet knows why Guillain-Barré strikes some people and not others or what sets the disease in motion. What scientists do know is that the body's immune system begins to attack the body itself, causing what is known as an autoimmune disease. Guillain-Barré is called a syndrome rather than a disease because it is not clear that a specific disease-causing agent is involved. Reflexes such as knee jerks are usually lost. Because the signals traveling along the nerve are slower, a nerve conduction velocity (NCV) test can give a doctor clues to aid the diagnosis. The cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the spinal cord and brain contains more protein than usual, so a physician may decide to perform a spinal tap.
Is there any treatment?
There is no known cure for Guillain-Barre syndrome
But it's not a public health issue! A public health issue is a flu epidemic, or a measles outbreak that transmits through the air to people simply by being in the proximity of an infected person. Genital warts (the common name for HPV) are a sexually transmitted disease. They don't transfer through the air when somebody coughs.
You want to opt out for your daughter, fine.
The very fact that the burden is placed on parents to opt out is ridiculous. It entails a presumption that daughters are promiscuous unless they indicate otherwise.
Give me a break.
I'd get an AIDS vaccine in heartbeat if it existed. Who knows where I'll be when I need a blood tranfusion.
I'm not using the same arguments as those at DU. It reflects on you that you can't tell the difference.
Like all sexually transmitted diseases (and pregnancy), if the young lady is not exposed, then she won't have the problem, now will she?
Cervical cancer can be the luck of the genetic draw, but this vaccine is specifically to deter cervical cancer from the sexually transmitted HPV.
Ain't it amazing that no matter how "equal" feminists try to convince young women they are and that their equality lies through the bedroom door....the more the good Lord says, "Think again."
Just goes to show you....sinking to the level of equality should hold very few charms for any young lady of substance...or even those young ladies who merely don't have a death wish.
Every state has exemptions. Some only allow medical exemptions, but most allow religious, and some allow philosophical exemptions.
A vaccine can't cause that.
A hormonal or drug could, but a vaccine cannot. All a vaccine is is something that creates antibodies to a disease, in this case HPV.
That said, I don't support this. I have no problem with the existence of such a thing, but shouldn't be government mandated.
Explain to me how your ability to opt out gives you zero point nada say.
Take your time.
HIV, yes. HPV...well...even close "heavy petting" contact can spread it. And deny it as they may, even many of the "holier-than-thou's" on this site were guilty of doing a little of that without their parents' knowledge as a teenager.
Again, I don't support the mandatory-ness of it. But let's get our facts straight when we make an argument.
from what I read in another article - he didn't "sign" it, he bypassed the legislature and did it via an EO.
And that's your choice to make. I bet if you took a poll of FR though you'd find that 99% of us wouldn't.
Who knows where I'll be when I need a blood tranfusion.
HIV tainted blood transfusions are no longer a problem in the civilized world and haven't been since the 1980's when AIDS was first discovered. Now if you spend your summer vacation in some crappy African dictatorship, then yes. You'd be at risk for a tainted transfusion if you were injured there. But most of us have the better senses to avoid that part of the world.
Quite a LOT of reading there.
Heh, cute. Good call. I was referring to the choice of making it mandatory. You know that little thing called passing legislation. Eh, who needs a stupid process like that?
I suppose that could happen.
Sounds very "Brave New World" to me.
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