Yuck!
That is a total misrepresentation of what was actually said.
Perry said that Guardasil would save lives by preventing cancer and he was for that. (The so-called "safety" issue)
Perry also said that parents had a right to op out. (The totally separate "Freedom and parental rights" issue)
Both issues were addressed. You chose to stress one issue and falsify the other.
And who went gave the state or federal govt the authority to meddle in these matters. Merck did. Bottom line is that Rick Perry is in favor of the same type of Democrat lite that Bush was. Only difference is that his marching orders will come from presently out of favor corporations instead of GE, Soros, and the labor unions.
I hate cancer. We passed a $3 billion cancer initiative that same legislative session of which we’re trying to find over the next 10 years cures to cancers. Cervical cancer is caused by HPV. We wanted to bring that to the attention of these thousands of — of — of — tens of thousands of young people in our state. We allowed for an opt-out.
I don’t know what’s more strong for parental rights than having that opt-out. There’s a long list of diseases that cost our state and cost our country. It was on that list.
Now, did we handle it right? Should we have talked to the legislature first before we did it? Probably so. But at the end of the day, I will always err on the side of saving lives.
Allowing for an opt-out instead of an opt-in, and to always err on the side of saving lives are Perry's philosophical points of view I don't agree with.
Yes, Perry has refused and vetoed many nanny state invitations to control the lives of Texans. It is not a knee jerk reaction for him to impose his will on the State like Obama, Bloomberg or Romney. This is what I like about him.
The vaccine mess was a brain fart. He should have left that up to the people, in consultation with their doctors, to decide. As the debate unfolded it came to light doctors were not real crazy about being the first state us use that vaccine on Texas children. He fell for a Pharma sales (snow) job drenched in fear of a vaccine to prevent an epidemic of cancer. DC is full of fear artists posing as lobbyists and advisors.