Mandating Gardasil: A Gross Infringement On Parental Rights

standardnewswire.com ^ | 02/09/07 | Unknown

[Froufrou]

Children of God for Life is urging West Virginia lawmakers to scrap HB 2835 mandating Merck's new Gardasil HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine.

Following last week' hotly debated Executive Order by Governor Perry to mandate Gardasil in Texas, West Virginia is the latest of at least two dozen states proposing to add the controversial vaccine as a requirement for school attendance. However, unlike Texas and 48 other states including DC, which have laws allowing parents to opt-out, WVA and Mississippi are the only two States that do not provide religious or philosophical exemptions for vaccines.

"It is utterly disgraceful that WVA would force this vaccine on families, especially when their State law provides no relief to those who object to other vaccines," stated Children of God for Life Executive Director, Debi Vinnedge. "Even if they include an opt-out for Gardasil, such a move would be unconstitutional for parents who have religious objections to other vaccines, such as those using aborted fetal cell lines."

While Gardasil does not utilize aborted fetal cell lines – a primary focus of Children of God for Life, the group noted it raises other moral concerns. And they are not alone. Since Perry's actions last week, numerous family and medical groups agree that this is a family decision for the parents – not the State.

In a statement released Jan 22, the American College of Pediatrics noted that mandating Gardasil for school attendance "is a serious, precedent-setting action" replacing parental medical decision making with government regulations.

Likewise, Focus on the Family warned last year, that state officials, not parents, would become the primary sexual-health decision makers for America's children.

Vinnedge noted, "Mandating Gardasil is like the State mandating condoms for children. And neither one is effective at preventing cervical cancer. The HPV virus's incubation period is 20 years, yet this vaccine was tested for only 4 years. No one knows whether this will prevent cervical cancer at all."

Last year the Associated Press reported the FDA warning that, "any advantage the vaccine provides in protecting against the four virus types could be offset by infection by any of the multiple [over 100] other types of HPV that the vaccine does not cover." The FDA further noted that "the vaccine may lead to an increased number of cases of a cancer precursor among patients already infected by any of the four virus types at the time they receive the vaccine, and whose immune systems have not cleared the virus from their bodies."

"West Virginia is already a quagmire of contention in their antiquated State regulations on vaccines," noted Vinnedge. "If they intend to mandate Gardasil, they must provide an opt-out clause and add religious exemptions for other vaccines as well. Anything less would be a gross infringement on parental rights."

[Froufrou]

And these are the ones who have some 'affordable' med program for seniors, I think. I respect your decision, as I'm sure will your doctor. Talk with your pharmacist, too.

[keepitreal]

I know here in Colorado it is being sent through the legislature (with an opt-out)

http://www.coloradoconfidential.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1386

Tit for tat: The state mandates merck's drug and then gets lower-priced drugs for the state's low income (less that 3 times federal poverty level). The governor looks like a hero and companies like Merck get rich.

[USMCWife6869]

No, I don't expect her to. And if she wants to get the vaccine herself, or if my younger (much) daughters and I feel they need it at some point, then yes, I will discuss it with them. My point is that the government shouldn't be mandating a vaccine for a virus like this. It isn't the government's job to do this or to make these decisions for my kids. It is mine. I can't expect perfection for my daughters, but I can expect, as an American that prefers smaller government, that these choices will be ours to make as a family as opposed to it being a mandatory thing that takes away from my ability to discuss the consequences of thoughtless action. If they decide they will not be abstinent, it is still a decision between me and my girls, not my girls and Merck.

[Alter Kaker]

Froufrou,

There are two groups of people on FR who are objecting to Gardasil. The first are the folks who -- like yourself -- apparently object to all vaccines. I have nothing to say to you and them (and yes I'm a father and grandfather) other than the benefit conferred by vaccines over the last 150 years has been truly incalculable. Thanks to vaccinations, we no longer have to worry about yellow fever, or small pox or tuberculosis or polio or any of a number of diseases that maimed, crippled and killed our ancestors. Vaccinations have increased the quality of life in the developed world more than any other development in the history of human civilization.

The second group of folks have concerns specific to Gardasil. It's to that second group (that comprises the majority here, I believe) that I was speaking. I think their concerns are either ill-informed or based heavily on prudery regarding any sexually transmitted disease.

[keepitreal]

Because in clinical trials, not a single serious adverse reaction has been linked to Gardasil. On the other hand, several people die each year from adverse reactions to the flu vaccine.

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Was death one of the adverse reactions in the clinical trials of the flu vaccine? Or was it an adverse reaction discovered after the fact?

[Froufrou]

Why is it when we're on to them we have to fight for our rights? I was amazed at how many kids had reactions out of the 19,000 entries on the petition.

To think my own parents just up and did it based on what they were told. Polio was scary business, but the other ones?

[MamaTexan]

My understanding was that only three other states have approached.

I've seen where it's 12 to 20 states now.

I'll do some digging & see if I can come up with the articles.

[Nevernow]

There's no proof it's a lifetime immunity, considering there have been no studies past 5 years. On minors, there was no study that went past 18 months. On girls 9-11...there was no study done.

The precancer HPV can be caught with a pap smear.

Are you suggesting we FORCE girls (who as I said, are at an age where there was no clinical test done, so saying there were no adverse reactions is pretty accurate) to take a vaccine that has been proven to be dangerous to some individuals when the problem it's supposed to be preventing can be caught with a routine pap smear? There's no opt-out in West Virginia.

This doesn't protect against all HPV, either, so that figure you have (which is based off a study done in the 80s) wouldn't change very much. Women can still get the other strains.

There are two girls who may have developed a serious and sometimes deadly syndrome from this vaccine.

If people want the vaccine, they should take it. If not, they shouldn't be forced to take it.

[Froufrou]

I respect your opinion but disagree that prudery is the basis for objection. I'd say there's another class, the group who says if it's good for the gander it's good for the goose.

My initial objections [Monday's first post] were that the data are insufficient for a condition which is not epidemic.

Later in the week, as I received a FReepmail from someone with a bad experience and I had time to research and visit nvic.org, I realized that there have been many people who have had adverse reactions to vaccines.

Do I think that means they were all too soon on the market? I don't know. I was lucky. I do think my parents would be horrified if they were alive to see what I have this week. The would probably think that's what killed my sister, who died in infancy.

[WV Mountain Mama]

Give it to your family but don't mandate it on mine. Our family is capable of making our own decisions after our own research. We will also discuss our decisions and findings with our pediatrician. This needs to have an opt in or opt out clause. As it stands now, it doesn't. As I stated earlier of the 150,000,000 women in this country and if I trust your 80% figure that carry the HPV virus, how many actually die from the cancer? Or are we trying to save people from themselves because they don't go to a doctor regularly to have a routine test that under most insurance plans is covered 100%.

More people die each year from obesity related illnesses, look around WV, they are everywhere. Yet all you can eat buffets are going unregulated!!!

[USMCWife6869]

From the CDC's own website:

http://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm

"All types of HPV can cause mild Pap test abnormalities which do not have serious consequences. Approximately 10 of the 30 identified genital HPV types can lead, in rare cases, to development of cervical cancer. Research has shown that for most women (90 percent), cervical HPV infection becomes undetectable within two years. Although only a small proportion of women have persistent infection, persistent infection with "high-risk" types of HPV is the main risk factor for cervical cancer."

And this:

"Because the vaccine does not protect against all types of HPV, it will not prevent all cases of cervical cancer or genital warts. About 30% of cervical cancers will not be prevented by the vaccine, so it will be important for women to continue getting screened for cervical cancer (regular Pap tests). Also, the vaccine does not prevent about 10% of genital warts—nor will it prevent other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). So it will still be important for sexually active adults to reduce exposure to HPV and other STIs."

So, using the CDC's own math, this vaccine would only prevent roughly 7,014 cases of cervical cancer. This doesn't seem epidemic to me, and it certainly doesn't seem to me that it warrants a mandatory vaccine? I don't think so.

I lost my mother to cancer, so before you go there, don't. If there had been a vaccine for non-hodgkins lymphoma, then I would still not have wanted it to be a mandatory thing for all Americans just because it would have saved her. Just like I would never tell my husband to not go to Iraq just because he might die over there.

[MamaTexan]

PAYDIRT!

Moves to Vaccinate Girls For Cervical Cancer Draw Fire:

Bills being drafted in some 20 U.S. states that would make a cervical-cancer vaccine mandatory for preteen girls are sparking a backlash among parents and consumer advocates.

TWENTY states! The net is being slammed with news releases, too about how Gardasil 'may' protect against more viruses than first thought. (Wink, wink...nudge, nudge)

Anyone checked their stock?

It went up on the day after the Royal Proclamation was issued.

[Ro_Thunder]

The HPV virus's incubation period is 20 years,

That's kind of strange. How did I get warts in 3 months? I certainly didn't have sex when I was 2.


I think they meant "virus's incubation period is as long as 20 years"....

[Froufrou]

http://www.drudge.com/news/89786/merck-campaigns-cervical-cancer-vaccine

This Drudge piece was at 18 states on Jan. 31!!! I will have to look there more often!!!

Thanks for the link!

[CholeraJoe]

Actually, I think what they meant was that it could take as long as 20 years(or longer) to grow cancer. I have seen women in their early 20's with advanced cervical cancer, however.

Eva Peron was 33 when she died of advanced cervical cancer.

[MamaTexan]

Thanks for the link!

It the Wall Street Journal. I don't think I made an FR fubar, but I told the mod.

It lets us know this thing is being pushed everywhere.The company has invested lots of money donations in the states' legislatures to make this happen.

Big bucks for the company, the states looks like heroes.....and our kids get left holding the bag.

------

I don't THINK so!

[Nevernow]

Yep.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/551247

"Progression from HPV infection to invasive cancer takes an average of 20 years."

It's under Study Highlights.

[LtdGovt]

I am tired of the government forcing sexual issues on them when I am not there to see.

How is this a sexual issue? By preventing girls from dying from cancer when they have sex?

[LtdGovt]

If this were a vaccine for any other disease, I bet 90% of you wouldn't care. This is silly prudery masquerading as genuine concern.

Why else would "Children of God for Life" be opposing life-saving vaccines?

[Diogenesis]

"Informed consent? Long term risk from vaccine?
Who the heck cares? We politicians bought stock in Merck BEFORE the new law."