Governor Perry issued an Executive Order (EO) (RP#65, February, 2007) which mandated that all Texas girls be vaccinated prior to their admission to the sixth grade. Parents were allowed to opt out of the mandate by filling out an affidavit.
Perry was rebuked by both houses of the Texas legislature which overturned his EO by a veto-proof margin. Seeing the writing on the wall, Perry did not sign the law nor did he veto the overriding legislation. He subsequently rescinded RP#65 with another EO (RP#74) and the issue is now dead in Texas.
As of July 2011, legislators in at least 41 states and D.C. have introduced legislation to require, fund or educate the public about the HPV Vaccine and at least 20 states have enacted this legislation, including Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington. Source: National Conference of State Legislatures.
Why should the parents have to go to the trouble to fill out an affidavit?
Why mandate it then?
My best guess? Not as easy to opt out as we may think.
Well that makes me feel much better. As long as other states are mandating Gardasil innoculations unless you fill out a form 'requesting' an exemption from the state to control your daughters health, everything is right with the world.
Have you innoculated your sons yet?
Can you break those numbers down by "require," "fund," and "educate"? There is a huge difference between require and educate.