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Gardasil Cervical Cancer Vaccine/Merck

CW: Most people do not think like you and the few others who hit every Perry thread trying to elevate this to a "sticking" point.

I'm not a mind reader but it strikes me that Gov. Rick Perry truly believed the HPV vaccine would have helped a lot of Texans who otherwise would not have gotten this protection against cervical cancer (it was to help with 3 strains of the human papilloma virus HPV).

Rick Perry's wife Anita Perry was a nurse for 17 years and still is involved in health care as First Lady of Texas, so I imagine health care is something this governor is more aware of than maybe your "average" governor and understood this to be a vaccine that would combat cervical cancer and cut heath care costs.

Then too Rick Perry grew up hard scrabble with little luxury as many have, yet vaccines traditionally have been made available to all.

Instead of applying the worst motives to Rick Perry, perhaps his critics could consider that his motives were good ones.

Another FReeper had some thoughts on this issue.

However, there are some here on FR who prefer to apply the worst motives to Rick Perry.

The most "vocal" either won't name a candidate they would support; say they would vote for Huntsman or Romney over Perry; say they would rather Obama stay in the White House than vote for Rick Perry.

The HPV vaccine was always Opt-Out. And according to below report had been changed to Opt-In, before being dropped entirely.

90 days after his EO, Gov. Rick Perry let stand legislation undoing the EO.

UPDATE from yesterday -- CW: Perry’s been laying tracks and he’s moving down the line.

Perry can’t seem to make a wrong step.

I swear, the cervical cancer vaccine EO will turn out to show Perry was on the right track.

The TTC has already been shown to be lied about by environmentalists and opportunists to push light rail and block Texas infrastructure. They still have people believing half of Texas was going to be paved over to allow Mexico to invade. They don’t need a road because the federal government won’t secure 1250 miles of Texas’ INTERNATIONAL border with Mexico — and what lies south.

I laugh when they say Perry is lucky. He’s sets goals and works to meet them.

Gov. Rick Perry has prepared himself for this, and now that opportunity knocks, he’s stepping forward.

FReeper comment: You really said that? On a site for conservatives? There are a lot of reasons to like Gov. Perry - but this isn't one of them.

CW: Yes. I said it. There is an increase in oral cancer and a lot of it comes from oral sex the kids are having from the wonderful illustration Hillary Clinton's husband Bill Clinton so casually advertised for the world and children to see, where his sycophants in the media and education lapped it up. So I am not going to say Rick Perry was awful to want to protect women and young girls if it was possible to prevent this cancer (any strains of it - and oral or cervical). There is going to be an explosion of health care costs and this cancer will be among them. His idea to do good was at odds with what was politically correct but the legislature blocked his EO. They're responsible for not having the vaccine available. Was it the right thing to do? Time will tell.

FReeper 2 comment: IIf he stood on principles, we wouldn't have to wait for 'time'. He would know today that it wasn't the right thing to do. I can agree with you about the Clinton's and the impact of the original man-child President, but I don't want the state's (or the nation's) executive making decisions like this. Sorry, not what a conservative would have done.

CW: Perhaps that Gov. Perry let the legislature override his EO — let them make the final call for their constituents (he’d made his decision) was where he took his stand. Perry isn’t king or emperor or dictator. He used the tools he had available and then the people’s representatives used the tools they had.

The vaccine had been “opt-out,” was changed to “opt-in,” the legislature still stopped it, and before it started and now it is not at all. It was never “mandated.”

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”..Ann Hettinger, Concerned Women for America's state director of Texas, was instrumental in convincing Perry to change his proposal to an opt-in provision. When asked if Perry's original plans for the HPV vaccine would be an issue if he were to run for president, [CEO of Concerned Women for America, Penny] Nance replied, “It would've been an issue IF HE HAD NOT FIXED IT.”

Perry, Social Conservatives and the Road to the Top ….."The party has evolved to where he had the ability to be more open about some of his views," says Susan Weddington, a former chairwoman of the Republican Party of Texas. "I think it's the party that's changed some — this is definitely in his political DNA."

"Rick Perry has continued to stand up. I think that's who the man is," says Cathie Adams, who has been a Texas GOP chairwoman, national committeewoman and head of the Texas Eagle Forum.

She, like others in the Perry fold, believes he's been consistently conservative on issues that matter to social and religious conservatives — most of the time. Like others, she says his support for a mandated vaccine against human papillomavirus was off pitch. HPV, which is sexually transmitted, is the leading cause of cervical cancer; Perry wanted to require the shots for all 12-year-old girls in Texas, unless their parents opted out.

"I worked against HPV," Adams says. "I don't think he was ill-intended on that. He could have listened to more voices."

State Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center, agrees with that — "where he shot himself in the foot was a couple of sessions ago with that vaccination thing" — but also says Perry's place as the party's standard-bearer is safe.

"I've talked especially with the Tea Party people, " he says. "If you want to say on the correct side of them, you need to stick with Perry."……….

Rick Perry Gets A Grade on Abortion From Texas Pro-Life Groups “The big question in the Republican presidential race is whether or not Texas Gov. Rick Perry will throw his name in the hat for the GOP nomination to face pro-abortion president Barack Obama. If he does, Texas pro-life groups give him high marks.

“Governor Rick Perry has always championed the pro-life cause, tirelessly advocating for the sanctity of innocent human life in numerous ways,” Texas Right to Life executive director Elizabeth Graham tells LifeNews.com.

Governor Perry has worked alongside Texas Right to Life, helping shepherd our pro-life bills and eagerly supporting our measures,” Graham said. “As governor of Texas, he has intervened to stop anti-life legislation on a number of occasions, and he has helped clear obstacles when necessary.” ………….

June 13, 2011: Texas Gov. Rick Perry blasted pro-abortion President Barack Obama on pro-life issues "Perry said that, under Obama “our federal tax dollars can now be used to fund abortion all over the world. With the stroke of a pen, abortion essentially became a U.S. foreign export......."

”Perry has pleased pro-life advocates in Texas many times with signing pro-life legislation — most recently signing an ultrasound bill allowing women to see them before an abortion and hopefully changing their minds on it. He has been strongly supported by pro-life groups. Perry supported or signed into law the Women’s Right to Know Act and the Prenatal Protection Act in 2003, parental consent law in 2005, and funding for alternatives to abortions in 2007 and 2009."

Star Telegram......"Perry's push for the sonogram bill has fortified his long-standing ties to family values and pro-life groups but it has also made him a target from other circles. "We would aggressively work to defeat him [Perry], of course," said Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, which describes itself as non-partisan but typically backs Democrats.