TX Govenor Orders Girls Vaccinated
Posted by Ryan on February 4th, 2007.
And just when I didn’t think I’d be writing about the same state twice in a day, I read about another stupid move by a Texas politician.
AUSTIN ” Gov. Rick Perry signed an order today making Texas the first state to require that schoolgirls be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.
By issuing this as an executive order, Governor Perry sidestepped the legislature, and angered parents and parents’ rights groups. And they have a right to be angry: how can the government tell a woman, or in this case, sixth grade girls, what to do with their bodies? Perry says that this vaccine should be treated no differently than the one that prevents polio.
But he is wrong there. The vaccine he ordered is for an STD, but last time I checked, polio is transmited through the fecal-oral route. And whereas the polio vaccine has been around for decades, the HPV vaccine has been around, in testing only, for five years. The side effects at time spans of six years and longer an still unknown. Also unknown is how long patients are protected for after being vaccinated. And it doesn’t even protect against all the strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer.
So why has he done this? Perhaps it has to do with his ties to the company and Women in Government? Let’s take a look at this:
- Mike Toomey: Perry’s former Chief-of-Staff, currently one of Merck’s lobbyists in Texas.
- Rep. Dianne White Delisi: Mother-in-law of Perry’s current Chief-of-Staff, Delisi is a state director of Women in Government
- $6000: the amount of money donated to Perry’s reelection campiagn by Merck’s PAC
Even though parents can have their child opt-out by filling out a form and signing it, this executive order still interferes with the parents’ right to make medical decisions for their daughter. If I recall correctly, part of the Roe v Wade decision was that the government cannot tell somebody what they can and cannot do with their body. I expect that the ACLU will have no problem finding someone willing to let them fight this in federal district court if Perry doesn’t rescind the order. I also believe that the ACLU will have a very good chance of succeding.