Why the Rush?

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http://breakpoint.org/media/dkContent/6295/031907_BP.mp3

The Case Against Gardasil

Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President
Mark Earley.

Most of us have memories of childhood vaccinations for everything from
smallpox to measles to polio. They prevented deadly diseases spread by
casual contact.

But now our lawmakers are poised to force 11-year-old girls to take a
vaccine for a disease that is not spread by casual contact-unless you
consider sexual relations casual.

At first glance, arguments in favor of vaccinating girls against the human
papillomavirus (HPV) seem strong. HPV infections are spread through
sexual contact, and virtually all cervical cancers arise from HPV
infections. A vaccine called Gardasil, made by the Merck pharmaceutical
company, is effective at preventing diseases from two HPV strains that
cause 70 percent of cervical cancers.

So why not vaccinate girls against HPV? The reasons are both practical
and moral.

As Michael Fumento notes in the Weekly Standard, both the incidence
and the death rate for cervical cancer are dropping in the United States,
thanks to heightened awareness and to the Pap smear. In fact, in 1999
the Centers for Disease Control told Congress that cervical cancer is now
"nearly 100 percent preventable."

So why the rush to make Gardasil mandatory for students?

Partly, it is because Gardasil has a strong competitor, and perhaps it is
because Merck and other drug companies exert significant influence on
elected officials and advocacy groups. In Texas, Governor Rick Perry
issued an executive order mandating the HPV vaccine for all sixth-grade
girls. In Virginia, the legislature recently voted overwhelmingly to require
mandatory vaccination for all sixth-grade girls.

I am delighted to say that in Texas last week the House voted
overwhelmingly to overturn Perry's executive order. And much of
America's medical community has come out against mandating HPV
vaccinations. But even if they had not, parents ought to object to the
moral message a mandatory HPV vaccination sends.

For one thing, it overrides parental authority. For another, it may
encourage promiscuity-as with birth control pills and abortion, it gives
girls one less reason to tell boys "no."

State battles over Gardasil are, on one level, the latest battle over whose
view of sexuality is going to prevail. The secular view is that, of course,
kids will engage in sex, and the government's job is to keep them from
getting pregnant and contracting diseases. By contrast, the Judeo-
Christian ethic teaches that sex ought to be reserved for marriage.

Modern parents must protect their daughters, not only from teenage boys
who think of little else but sex, but also against drug companies,
lawmakers, and activist groups that want to make money, win campaigns,
and teach our kids the wrong message, even if their intentions are well-
meaning.

We all need to find out if our own states are among those considering
mandating Gardasil. We must also teach our daughters how to avoid
acquiring HPV infections in the first place: chastity before marriage, and
monogamy afterwards.

When it comes to premarital sex, it's not just diseases they have to worry
about, but broken hearts and lives-and there is no vaccine against that.

By Mark Earley
3/19/2007

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For Further Reading and Information

Michael Fumento, "A Merck-y Business," Weekly Standard, 12 March
2007.

Gina Dalfonzo, "Oops!" The Point, 14 March 2007. (Comment here on
BreakPoint's blog about the HPV vaccine.)

Motte Brown, "Assumptions about Daughters, Casual Sex, and HPV,"
The Line, 14 March 2007.

"New Studies and Your Health," USA Today, 2 March 2007.

Melissa Hendricks, "HPV Vaccine: Who Chooses?" Los Angeles Times,
5 February 2007.

Arthur Allen, "Underage: Why It's Too Soon for a Mandatory HPV
Vaccine," New Republic, 2 March 2007.

Steven Groopman, "Blind Faith: Conservative Christians and HPV," New
Republic, 10 March 2007.

Janet Elliott, "House Passes Bill to Overturn HPV Vaccine Order,"
Houston Chronicle, 14 March 2007.

"N.M. Governor to Sign Bill Requiring Girls to Get HPV Vaccine," USA
Today, 12 March 2007.

Tim Craig, "Kaine Says He'll Sign Bill Making Shots Mandatory,"
Washington Post, 3 March 2007, B10.

"Calif. Bill to Require Cancer Vaccine for Girls," CBS13.com, 12 March
2007.

"D.C. Lawmakers Consider Mandatory HPV Vaccine," NBC4.com, 8
March 2007.

Kate Clements, "HPV Vaccine Bill Coasts through House Panel," News-
Gazette (Ill.), 15 March 2007.

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