Posted on 02/05/2007 7:13:36 AM PST by Froufrou
Bypassing the Legislature altogether, Republican Gov. Rick Perry issued an order Friday making Texas the first state to require that schoolgirls get vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer.
By using an executive order, Perry sidestepped opposition in the Legislature from conservatives and parents-rights groups who fear such a requirement would seem to condone premarital sex and interfere with the way Texans raise their children.
Beginning in September 2008, girls entering the sixth grade -- meaning, generally, girls ages 11 and 12 -- will have to receive Gardasil, Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV.
Perry also directed state health authorities to make the vaccine available free to girls 9 to 18 who are uninsured or whose insurance does not cover vaccines. In addition, he ordered that Medicaid offer Gardasil to women ages 19 to 21.
Perry, a conservative Christian who opposes abortion 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 from the one that protects children against polio.
"The HPV vaccine provides us with an incredible opportunity to effectively target and prevent cervical cancer," Perry said.
Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass state laws across the country mandating Gardasil 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.
Perry has ties to Merck and Women in Government. One of the drug company's three lobbyists in Texas is Mike Toomey, Perry's 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.
The governor also received $6,000 from Merck's political action committee during his re-election campaign.
The order is effective until Perry or a successor changes it, and the Legislature has no authority to repeal it, said Perry spokeswoman Krista Moody. Moody said the Texas Constitution permits the governor to order other members of the executive branch to adopt rules like this one.
Texas allows parents to opt out of inoculations by filing affidavits objecting to vaccines on religious or philosophical reasons. Even with such provisions, however, conservative groups say such requirements interfere with parents' rights to make medical decisions for their children.
Somehow it makes a big difference when you are one of the unimportant "very few".
MMR shots have come under close scrutiny in recent years.
Measles mumps and rubella are not as terrible as Autism.
Yeah ,whatever sums up nicely your attitude towards Texas school children.
The pharmaceutical company should be required to at least pay the parents for using their children as test subjects.
Then again, they would have the money to do such a thing.
"While HPV may lead to cancer, the vaccine is only necessary if we say to our daughters "go ahead, be a slut."
Or their future husbands be 100% faithful before and during marriage. Or his ex-wife be faithful -- even though she's an ex-wife because she ran around on him, etc.
There are all sorts of ways to be 'innocent' and catch this disease, in particular, as men carry it, but are not affected by it.
"While HPV may lead to cancer, the vaccine is only necessary if we say to our daughters "go ahead, be a slut."
Or their future husbands be 100% faithful before and during marriage. Or his ex-wife be faithful -- even though she's an ex-wife because she ran around on him, etc.
There are all sorts of ways to be 'innocent' and catch this disease, in particular, as men carry it, but are not affected by it.
"Somehow it makes a big difference when you are one of the unimportant "very few"."
Of course you are correct.
But the governor is the governor for ALL the people, and he, therefore, has to look at the 17,000.
It's not a pleasant choice, but a correct choice, just like sending boys to war so that we might live free is the correct choice.
Now we can agree on this, not that it is necessary. What you or any other parent, or citizen who is "concerned" about HPV, thinks about the vaccine, that decision needs to be made between the parents after consulting with their trusted physician -- not some elected lawyer (aka politician) or appointed one (aka judge).
Parent's have had most of their decisions regarding their own children stolen by The State (Communist Style), now they have lost one more very important right - why, because of a political contribution.
This action is another nail in the head of totalitarian government replacing a democratic republic.
"Yeah,whatever sums up nicely" my attidude toward conspiracy nuts (oh! big corporations!) and luddite objections.
Replace "Merk" with "Halliburton" and this could be a thread on the Democratic Underground.
No ill effects except for penile cancer and genital warts...
You really don't understand how vaccines work, do you?
I know there are no guarantees in life, however the message that parents send their kids is an extremely important factor in their behavior. The culture bombards them everyday with the message that promiscuity is OK. It's a battle where we as parents are greatly outnumbered. I choose not to surrender.
I have an 11 year old daughter. She probably knows nothing about this vaccine. What reason do you give her if she asks why she needs this vaccine? There is no coherent answer you can give which does not carry with it the condoning of the behavior. We don't need another "here's a condom, don't use it type message" - they don't work.
Further, HPV isn't the sole horrific consequence of promiscuous behavior. This vaccine is being marketed as a panacea, and young minds will get the impression that they are "safe" when they are not.
The bottom line is "safe sex" is a myth. I once asked the Executive Director" of a pregnancy care center what percentage of their pregnant clients were taking birth control and she said "2/3"
Please don't surrender to the culture. You may think you are protecting your children but you really aren't. They may not get HPV, but there's still pregnancy, abortion and about 27 other STD'S
That's really from rare "gay versions" (being somewhat sarcastic) of the disease.
http://www.thehpvtest.com/HPV-for-men-FAQ.html
While the penile cancers are rare, HPV often does cause genital warts.
"Or their future husbands be 100% faithful before and during marriage".
That's the idea.
"This is a kind of medicine which helps your body fight a certain kind of bug that women can get that could give them cancer later in life."
That's coherent and doesn't condone the behavior.
Did she ask why she was given the Hep B vaccine? Did she ask why she was being given the MMR vaccine? What about DPT?
You own stock in Merk. Don't you.
Right now, if I owned stock in such an ethically challenged company, I would be worried.
Only , I would not be attacking those who disagree with their tactics.
I would dump their stock.
You may have other more sinister reasons for wanting to abuse Texas girls.
When science meets ideology, science always loses. What happens is ideology takes science out for a drink and while science is drinking Grey Goose, ideology is sipping watered down rum and cokes. At the end of the evening, as they are leaving, ideology picks science's pocket and then lures it out to the back alley where six bikers beat it with pipes.
With something like 50% of American men being carriers of HPV (read the link above), that is the idea, but not, alas, the cruel reality.
Boys will be boys, even the ones that eventually grow up to be good men and husbands.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.