1 post tagged “immunization”
I usually keep my opinions to myself about political things, but when politics intersects with women's health issues I take notice. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this one.
Basically, Texas is going to make it a law that all schoolgirls must be vaccinated for the form of HPV (human papillomavirus) that causes cervical cancer. BTW, there are something like 80 strains of HPV (including the one that causes cold sores). Now, the idea of an inoculation against a cancer is pretty amazing. Who knows, maybe someday they'll be able to inoculate against things like leukemia. Our government already requires all sorts of immunizations and it has saved many lives.
The thing that bothers me is that a company, Merck, has footed the bill to get the state legislature to pass the bill. The man heading it up, Gov. Rick Perry, has ties to the company and received $6000 from them in his re-election campaign, which is only the tip of the iceberg. It's more complicated that that and you can read the story here on Yahoo.
Even the whole politicians getting kickbacks or awarding bids to the companies of their friends thing isn't the whole story on my bother with this one. Sadly, I think I've come to expect that kind of behavior in politicians. I'm not bothered that some folks think the immunization will somehow encourage sexual activity. What worries me is the government getting into the space of women's personal health issues.
Bush and the Republican party have been trying to overturn Roe v. Wade, piece by piece. Stem cell research is “evil”, and yet, it's OK to force an inoculation (that might not have been tested for the usual time period - such things happen when business and government have money between them) on only a certain portion of the population. It smacks of setting a bad precedent.
Don't get me wrong. Gardasil may be everything it's cracked up to be. I could even decide to get the immunization myself (I certainly don't want cervical cancer!). There could be no side effects (though, as most immunizations are either "dead" or "weak" versions of a virus and people frequently get mildly sick from, say the flue shot - I'm not sure if I want something that could give me cancer ESPECIALLY if it hasn't been rigorously tested). But I want to choose.
It's only a couple hops to government legislation requiring all schoolgirls, then all women to get the shot. After all women are required to do one thing, what does that set us up for in the future?
