I don't know how much publicity this is getting in other parts of the country, but it's all over the news here in Texas. Last week the Texas Governor Rick Perry signed an executive order making it mandatory (as of September 2008) for all girls 11 and 12 years old (6th grade) to receive Gardasil, the vaccine for HPV, an STD that some strains of which can cause cervical cancer.

Link to the CDC site about the vaccine: http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/STDFact-H...ne.htm#hpvvac6
Link to news story about the executive order: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4521884.html

On the surface this may sound like a good idea, a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer in women is great right? Sure, but should it really be up to the governor wether our daughters receive this vaccine or not? Several parental rights groups are speaking out about this, as they believe that it should be up to the parents wether or not their daughters get this vaccine. Also, Gardasil does not protect against all strains of the virus that may cause cervical cancer, and it is possible through regular exams to diagnose and treat the virus before it mutates the cells, and prevent the cancer altogether. It's also interesting to note that in his last campaign governor Perry received a substantial contribution from Merck, the company that manufactures the vaccine.

So I guess the question here is... should this vaccine be mandatory, or is the governor stepping over the line?

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Yes, this is going to be tricky!! I really dont think it should be mandatory, the parents should have a say, but the other side of it is, if it is mandatory for certain ages it will be payed for if the person doesnt have any insurance. Some people believe,if they do the injection, it will promote sex, but I tend to disagree. If I have a girl one day, I would tell her it is a vaccine you need for school, and it will help prevent cancer in the future. It really depends on what age you get it done. If they are 9 or 10 they may not worry so much at why, but just the scary thought of getting a "shot" Noone knows the long term effects either, so that can be a little scary, but Im sure it has been tested. I am a nurse and work with college age patients, and they are scared to death of getting cancer, because of all the advertisement out there. I would say "most" girls would be apprecative to hopefully not be put through so much down the road, and to avoid getting abnormal paps etc etc. On the other hand they are finding with women under 30, that their immune systems are trying to fight the virus off. So we are always, promoting no smoking, and anything to help with the immune system. Either way this will be viewed very differently, but I do agree that parents should have a choice!!

im not sure if i wasn to tuch the subject on how i feel but...

with rick perry being govenor he has no say on if the bill will be passed he dosnt have the authority....i havnt heard much about the bill lately...im off to go google!

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Michelle (24) and Brad (28)

HOST OF TTC 2+ YEARS
HOST OF Alternative/Herbal/Non-Traditional

haha it will not promote sex - i had sex w/ people without even a thought of hpv- knowing i was protected would not make me do it more.

i think its a good idea

i think that perry is totally going over the line with this. i know that this is a a bit of a old subject, but when i went for my pap at the end of sept. the lady doing my exam was totally pushing this on me. i told her that i would need to research it more. and if it only provides against 3 strains, what is to say that those wouldn't mutate and it would be useless. as you can see by my sig, i have 2 girls. if they were of age to get the vacc. i would be saying NO, NO, NO!!!!!
i don't think that it is right for politicians to making decisions that parents should be making. i mean, look how many bad ones they have made.

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