I’m certainly not in the habit of praising Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), but he clearly made the right call on an HPV vaccine. Less than a year after the FDA approved the vaccine that builds an immunity against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, Texas has become the first state to require all 11- and 12-year-old girls entering the sixth grade to get the shot.
Averting a potentially divisive debate in the Legislature, Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, signed an executive order mandating shots of the Merck vaccine Gardasil as protection against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, starting in September 2008.
Mr. Perry’s action, praised by health advocates, caught many by surprise in a largely conservative state where sexual politics is often a battleground. “I had no idea; I was absolutely caught off guard,” said Representative Jessica Farrar, Democrat of Houston, who sponsored a bill to require the vaccinations starting this September. “Normally, the governor does not take things like this upon himself, although I’m glad he did.” […]
“Requiring young girls to get vaccinated before they come into contact with HPV is responsible health and fiscal policy that has the potential to significantly reduce cases of cervical cancer and mitigate future medical costs,” said Mr. Perry, who was re-elected to his second full term last November.
That’s a surprisingly progressive, public-health-centered policy from Perry, who deserves all the praise he’s receiving. He apparently considered waiting for the legislature, but realized the state GOP would delay any policy breakthroughs, so he crafted the policy through executive order.
To help demonstrate why this was such a good move, consider how livid James Dobson’s Focus on the Family is.
The group sent this to its membership yesterday:
The plan takes away the right of parents to decide whether their daughters will receive the vaccine…. Parents are the decision makers for their minor children for medical care. If state legislation mandates a vaccine be given, it takes away parental authority.
Additionally, in a normal classroom setting, no child will contract or transmit HPV. It can be prevented, for the most part, by abstinence until marriage.
That’s the standard far-right line. The Family Research Council has explained, “Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful because they may see it as a license to engage in premarital sex.”
Let’s be clear: this HPV vaccine offers the promise of preventing cervical cancer and saving thousands of lives. For some conservatives, however, it comes down to a fairly straightforward position: The vaccine could possibly lead to more pre-marital sex, which ultimately trumps everything else, including the prevention of a painful death.
The position seems to be, “They sinned, now let them suffer for it.”
Kudos to Perry for having the sense to put public health interests over the unreasonable demands of his party’s base.