Three Cheers for Texas
It is not often I have a kind word to say that eminates from the State of Texas. Sure I know and read a few sane bloggers from there. But normally I blame TX for unleashing on the world the likes of Bush Sr., Dubya and Tom Delay on the world. I blame them for the Grassy Knoll. I hold them accountable for having a baseball owner that offered out the richest contact in baseball history. Hell, I even blame them for my parents requirement of being home and in front of the television for years just to watch Dallas. (Can I point out how annoying it was to go through High School with the initials J.R. after the whole “Who Shot JR?” thing.)
But for a change today, I get to praise Texas and Republican Governor Rick Perry. Texas became the first State to require the HPV vaccine.
Ms.
Though Governor Perry is known as a social conservative, his press secretary, Robert Black, told The Dallas Morning News, “He came to the conclusion it was the right thing to do. You don’t have opportunities like this where you can certainly prevent a cancer. It’s never happened before, so it would be irresponsible to walk away from it.”
I have written before about how this vaccination which can help erradicate cervical cancer caused by HPV has been controversial? How is something that has been proven 100% effective in clinical trials controversial, you may ask. Usually it is concerns about long term side effects and safety concerns (which is always valid). But in this case, the controversy stems from religious extremists, that somehow come to the conclusion that a girl getting a vaccine in the (approximately) 6th grade is somehow going to “encourage” promiscuity.
Portland Press Herald
Cathie Rossignol wants the best for her two girls but won’t vaccinate them against a virus that causes cervical cancer when the shots become widely available this fall.The vaccine targets the sexually transmitted disease responsible for most of the cancer cases, making the lifelong Catholic from Brooklin feel like she would be “giving the OK” to premarital sex if her daughters were inoculated.
Presumably this shot is so strong, that any of life’s lessons taught by a parent to a child from the 6th grade on is simply lost on the child because they had this inoculation.
While, I agree that I think this is a ‘no-brainer’ I do not take lightly the political considerations that Gov. Perry had to consider. I can only hope now that the ice has been broken, that other states will quickly follow suit.
Update: It is important to note, that the Executive Order signed by Governor Perry provides the ability for parents to opt out for religious or philosophical reasons. So taking into consideration the fact that you can opt out, can anybody please explain to me a valid reason why the “social conservative” crowd is fighting so hard to stop this?
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11 Responses to “Three Cheers for Texas”
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Very interesting. I haven’t been paying attention to this, but with 2 girls maybe I should. What I would like is this vaccine combine with a virginity vaccine that will keep those nasty boys away for another 25 years or so. Is that too much to ask?
As for the religious freakos, don’t even get me started. It’s a subject that contiues to boggle my mind.
Ok rolling at “I blame them for the grassy knoll”
Amen to the vaccine – good stuff – a preschool teacher at my son’s school had cervical cancer at 24 – hopefully this can prevent so many more of these cases..
Yes, but then Texas proposes something like fining parents for missing teacher conferences. I guess the parents in TX need to parented, too.
Found you through a random link – liked your blog name – and enjoying reading your content.
I can understand that yes, it has been proven effective in trials, no it will not encourage girls to sleep around but I still don’t like the idea of the state making it mandatory for all girls to get it. There’s something about the gov’t. telling me what I can and can’t do with my body or my child’s body that I don’t like. Although on the other side of the coin if it wasn’t for mandatory inoculations we’d still have things like Polio & Small Pox. I guess it’s just one of those things that I need to find out more facts about it before I can wrap my head around it.
Wendy,
Thanks. I’m glad to know somebody got it.
Kelly,
I understand the concern about the Government sticking its nose in where it doesn’t belong. Believe me, I am one to usually fight against such things.
As I said, it is always valid to be concerned with health effects, side effects and such, but that isn’t the issues being put forward. Nobody (so far) is questioning the validity of whether the inoculation is effective, only that it “should be” avoided because it is “like giving permission to be promiscuous” and other such clap trap.
Unfortunately, only by making it a mandated vaccine, can we ensure that the economies of scales help keep it affordable, and to ensure all insurance plans cover it.
[...] have made my opinion known on what I think about mandatory vaccinations for HPV. Mr. Big Dubya over at DadCentric gives the [...]
I was surprised and overjoyed with Perry’s requiring the vaccination for all girls.
Now I’m upset that a vaccine for cervical cancer has morphed into a controversy about teenage sex.
The Texas State Legislature overturned Perry’s order.
This has nothing to do with a parents’ right to discuss sex with their kids. It has to do with a girl’s right not to get cancer.
I wrote an article about it at http://www.traceesioux.blogspot.com and http://www.blogfabulous.com.
It’s up to a parent to decide whether or not to vaccinate their children against HPV. The government has no business deciding this for parents. It’s not a communicable disease that can be spread without the vaccination.
One of my valid points about the vaccination (two years ago) was that it hadn’t been around long enough to determine whether or not it was safe. Some are saying it’s not.
http://media.causes.com/510463?p_id=44676352
I understand (though don’t necessarily agree) with the argument that the government has “No business” making this decision. All I would like to know then, is do you feel the same way about MMR and other “mandatory” vaccinations that are already in place?
I don’t disagree in looking into any vaccine to ensure its safety and efficacy… my point is more about those that don’t like the vaccine on “moral grounds” and other such nonsense.
Having actually googled myself because someone said they saw this article written using my name, I have many things to actually say about what was being said about me. First of all, I am NOT a lifelong resident of Brooklin, Maine (if any of you even stopped to ask where the heck “Brooklin” was). I also take quite a bit of offense in the comments that I am a “religious freak” or “religious extremist”. I am neither. What you read was part of a conversation. What I had said was that I was brought up Catholic and continued to practice as well as raise my children Catholic. I was raised to believe that having sex while in elementary school (6th grade) was not something that was even a thought. Yes times were different then, however I still feel the same. I don’t live in a bubble, I am not from Maine originally and what I said was having to have my child receive a vaccination that prevented a type of cancer that was spread through sexual activity was something I didn’t feel I wanted to do with a ten year old daughter. I also do not agree with the government telling me what vaccinations my children should have to attend school on a vaccination that was not tested long enough to know the long term results. Several of my close friends are school nurses. I myself work in the education field. None of us felt it was something we would have our daughters be vaccinated for because of the risks, not because of religious reasons. I should not have to defend the fact that I am a Catholic and have raised my children to respect their bodies and themselves. My two children are now of high school and college age and neither have been vaccinated, the oldest now her choice, the youngest because she too does not want a vaccine for something that is not medically proven. Her friends parents feel the same.
It is interesting that you just found out about this, considering it was three years ago. But you are not the only one to recently come in, so I gather it has something to do with interest in the HPV vaccine being renewed.
I don’t know anything about Brooklin, Maine. I cited and quoted what is (in theory) a reputable Maine Newspaper. If they do not have their facts straight, then I apologize for magnifying their mistake. But it Portland Press Herald that reported the “fact” that you are a “lifelong Catholic from Brooklin”
I was also born and raised Catholic. And no, not then, nor now do I believe that a 6th grader should be having sex, nor did I insinuate in any way shape or form that this is or should be considered proper. It most certainly is not. Nor did I refer to YOU as a religious extremist (I saved that, for the Family Research Council, a group well known for their zealot and religiously extreme positions). I brought you up in the same article, because you shared one, I believe critically flawed argument with the Family Research Council… that somehow, having a 6th grader being given a vaccination for a DEADLY DISEASE is somehow the equivalent to “giving the OK to have sex” because the primary way of contracting this disease is through sexual intercourse.
In the post I wrote, if you had read the entirety, stated that there are those that have reservations because of concerns about long term use and side effects are VALID… so to that end I am not disputing your concerns. And to that end, if that is what we disagreed about, I probably would not have written this piece to begin with. However, as soon as you start basing health decisions based on “religious beliefs” that somehow protecting a child against something deadly because you are worried about the message of “giving the OK” to premarital sex if your daughters were inoculated, then yes I have a problem with that.
I have published your comment freely, because you are certainly entitled to your opinion. But if you are concerned with being taken out of context, I suggest that you take it up with the Portland Press Hearald, and if they print a restatement, retraction or correction of the story, I will add those facts to this one as well.
I thank you for taking the timeand effort to explain and clarify your position.