Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has issued an executive order mandating the use of the HPV vaccine, which can help prevent cervical cancer. The conservative Christian’s decree trumps opposition in the Legislature and elsewhere from opponents who feel the treatment encourages premarital sex. Texas will be the first state to require that schoolgirls receive the vaccine.What about HPV in boys? And why the Medicaid restriction on 19-21 year olds, certainly there are sexually active people above and below those ages in Texas, no?AP:Read more.
Beginning in September 2008, girls entering the sixth grade—meaning, generally, girls ages 11 and 12—will have to receive Gardasil, Merck & Co.’s new vaccine against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV.
Perry also directed state health authorities to make the vaccine available free to girls 9 to 18 who are uninsured or whose insurance does not cover vaccines. In addition, he ordered that Medicaid offer Gardasil to women ages 19 to 21.
Perry, a conservative Christian who opposes abortion and stem-cell research using embryonic cells, counts on the religious right for his political base. But he has said the cervical cancer vaccine is no different from the one that protects children against polio.
“The HPV vaccine provides us with an incredible opportunity to effectively target and prevent cervical cancer,” Perry said.
EDIT @ 1:19AM:
Krazypuppy over at Dailykos has the goods to explain Perry's push on this vaccine:
Perry has several ties to Merck and Women in Government. One of the drug company's three lobbyists in Texas is Mike Toomey, Perry's former chief of staff. Perry also received $6,000 from Merck's political action committee during his re-election campaign.
