Oh please, knock off the drama queen act.
I'm not defending what Perry did, I've repeatly said it was boneheaded and unilateral, and it should have been properly debated. What I will continue to challenge, regardless of how upset you get, is the false charge that he was forcing young girls to get the shot. That's a provable lie that only the willfully obtuse continue to pedal.
Perhaps you should get a good dictionary and look up the word, 'mandate'. A refresher on the meaning of the phrase, 'executive order' would help too, I think.
You are literally denying that the sky is blue. Under Perry's executive order, girls whose parents had not gone to the trouble of filing the correct government forms to "opt out", would have been forcibly given the Gardasil vaccine.
That is a fact, and one you're obviously so uncomfortable with, that you're willing to stand here in public and deny that it even happened.
Seriously...lying to defend your candidate of choice isn't going to win him any more votes.
NOW THEREFORE, I, RICK PERRY,Governor of Texas, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas as the Chief Executive Officer, do hereby order the following:
Vaccine.The Department of State Health Services shall make the HPV vaccine available through the Texas Vaccines for Children program for eligible young females up to age 18, and the Health and Human Services Commission shall make the vaccine available to Medicaid-eligible young females from age 19 to 21.
Rules.The Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner shall adopt rules that mandate the age appropriate vaccination of all female children for HPV prior to admission to the sixth grade.
Availability.The Department of State Health Services and the Health and Human Services Commission will move expeditiously to make the vaccine available as soon as possible.
Public Information.The Department of State Health Services will implement a public awareness campaign to educate the public of the importance of vaccination, the availability of the vaccine, and the subsequent requirements under the rules that will be adopted.
Parents’ Rights.The Department of State Health Services will, in order to protect the right of parents to be the final authority on their children’s health care, modify the current process in order to allow parents to submit a request for a conscientious objection affidavit form via the Internet while maintaining privacy safeguards under current law.
This executive order supersedes all previous orders on this matter that are in conflict or inconsistent with its terms and this order shall remain in effect and in full force until modified, amended, rescinded, or superseded by me or by a succeeding governor.
Given under my hand this the 2nd day of February, 2007.
RICK PERRY(Signature)
Governor
Attested by:
ROGER WILLIAMS(Signature)
Secretary of State