Christina Page hit the nail on the head. Yesterday's post discussed how the Holy Terrors would attack the HPV vaccine not directly, but through the argument that mandatory inoculations would be taking decision-making authority away from parents.
First, the good news. The ACIP issued its recommendations today and the committee's given the green light to inoculations for women and girls between 9 and 26.
From the news article...
The recommendation involves Gardasil, which is made by Merck & Co. and is the first vaccine specifically designed to prevent cancer. Approved earlier this month by the Food and Drug Administration for females ages 9 to 26, it protects against strains of the human papilloma virus, or HPV, which causes cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancers and genital warts.
Health officials estimate that more than 50 percent of sexually active women and men will be infected with one or more types of HPV in their lifetimes. Vaccine proponents say it could dramatically reduce the nearly 4,000 cervical cancer deaths in the United States each year.
The vaccine is considered most effective when given to girls before they become sexually active. About 7 percent of children have had sexual intercourse before age 13, and about a quarter of boys and girls have had sex by age 15, according to government surveys.
The committee's vote was unanimous, with two of the 15 members abstaining because of they have worked on Merck-funded studies.
The committee also voted to add the HPV vaccine to the coverage list for the federal Vaccines for Children program, which pays for immunizations for the poor. That could mean $50 million to $100 million in additional spending in the first year, government officials said.
Now the bad news. As Ms. Page predicted, the Holy Terrors are back on the warpath.
Earlier this year, the Family Research Council, a conservative group, did not speak out against giving the HPV shot to young girls. The organization mainly opposes making it one of the vaccines required before youngsters can enroll in school, said the group's policy analyst, Moira Gaul.
Another organization, Colorado-based Focus on the Family, was even stronger in voicing fears that states would require schoolchildren to get HPV shots.
"By giving its highest level of recommendation, the panel has placed strong pressure on state governments to make HPV vaccinations mandatory," Linda Klepacki, a Focus on the Family analyst for sexual health, said in a statement.
"If that happens, state officials, not parents, would become the primary sexual-health decision makers for America's children. That's the way things are done in dictatorships, not democracies."
The emphases are mine.
Elsewhere in the AP article, it's pointed out that the ACIP hasn't recommended mandatory inoculations yet, but Planned Parenthood has endorsed that action. So the Holy Terrors are jumping the gun at this point, but why wait until the last minute?
The article also points out that studies indicate the vaccine would have little impact on sexual activity.
In a recent survey of virgins 15 to 19, only 10 percent of boys and 7 percent of girls cited fear of disease as a reason not to have sex, Liddon said.
Still, we can count on the same shit, different day coming from the Holy Terrors. States' rights are being impeded, parental rights are being trampled upon, another government intrusion into peoples, private lives. One wonders how much they'd have objected to polio vaccines or measles shots or smallpox vaccines. Of course, none of those were sexually transmitted diseases.
Here's the rub. By framing the debate as one of states' rights and parents' rights, the Holy Terrors are making it clear they value chastity more than they value human life. They'd still rather have women be dead than sexually active.
What color is the sky in their world?
"Dad? Mom? I've got a confession to make. Ever since I was vaccinated against HPV, I've...I've...got the uncontrollable urge to be sexually active."
"Oh, my darling little girl!"
"Damn those mandatory vaccination programs!"
"It's the funniest thing, Mom. Knowing I'm safe from cervical cancer has made me slutty as a whore with the fleet in port. Even worse..."
"Yes, Penelope?"
"I've become more morally tolerant when it comes to social and personal issues."
"NOOOOOOO!!!"
"Then next thing you know she'll be watching reruns of 'Will and Grace.'"
Not a pretty picture, is it?
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