HPV and Politics

Here's a secret - I think Rick Perry is a doofus.  He doesn't believe in evolution or global warming which means that he is either a fool or completely beholden to fools.  But Mr. Perry's record on science is not 100% flawed.  It seems, however, that his opponents are wrong on every issue.

Recently, Mr. Perry has come under attack for - among other things - his decision to require teenage Texas girls to be vaccinated against HPV. 

You may read that and think - as I did - wow Rick Perry, you've really surprised me.  It is a good idea to use a safe drug to vaccinate middle school girls against an STD that causes cervical cancer.

Conservative critics of the idea say that it is just another example of government overstepping its bounds. Maybe they have a point.  It's not like the government requires students be vaccinated against other illnesses before starting school, and even if they did, parents should be able to choose whether or not they want their children to have viruses that cause cancer.

Sure, maybe vaccinating children against STDs, like giving them condoms, leads to sexual promiscuity, but the alternative, abstinence training, doesn't prevent promiscuity, pregnancy or STDs.  So even if you are against anti-sex, you should still be pro-good decisions...like preventing HPV.

To me this is actually a silly issue.  Parents should be able to choose if they want their children to be vaccinated against HPV.  Unlike say, the flu, you can't contract HPV simply by sitting next to someone in class.  Why any parent with a daughter would want their child not to be vaccinated is baffling to me, but I'm not a parent.  People should have that choice. 

To me, this simply illustrates, once again, that the Republican party doesn't really care all that much about people.  HPV causes cervical cancer.  Inoculating against it simply prevents the problems associated with the virus.  Should it be mandatory? Maybe, maybe not.  But the fact that many Republican candidates are on a crusade against it is problematic.  Michelle Bachmann has already praised Phyllis Schlafly as the most important woman of the century.  It is thus no surprise that she also is against women's health. 

Vote Republican in 2012, vote for cervical cancer.