The shocking order that Texas Governor Rick Perry issued last week, making
\nhis state the first in the union to mandate that all girls entering sixth
\ngrade receive a vaccine that protects against certain strains of the human
\npapillomavirus (HPV).<\/p>\n
But in addition to travesty, sham, and mockery, let\u2019s add the word
\n\u201cgenerous,\u201d because Gov. Perry\u2019s order turns out to be a very generous gift
\nto\u2026the people of Texas? No. Not even close. It\u2019s a generous gift to
\nMerck, the maker of the vaccine.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013
\nEasy to avoid
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n
Gardasil is the name of the vaccine, and it\u2019s been shown to be very
\neffective against HPV strains that cause the majority of cervical
\ncancers.<\/p>\n
Seems like a no-brainer, doesn\u2019t it? And that\u2019s exactly what the TV ads for
\nGardasil would have you believe. Give a girl the vaccine when she\u2019s young
\nand not yet sexually active, and you\u2019ll sharply reduce the chances that
\nshe\u2019ll pick up the sexually transmitted HPV.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s one thing for a parent to decide to have their daughter
\nvaccinated, and it\u2019s quite another to have that decision MANDATED by the
\ngovernment. And here are three reasons why:<\/p>\n
1) When women have annual gynecological exams, HPV is easily detected and
\ntreated. So it\u2019s not as if every woman is at risk for this cancer \u2013 only
\nthose who neglect to schedule regular exams.<\/p>\n
2) Each vaccine costs $360, which will quickly add up to millions, paid for
\nby insurance companies or by the state of Texas in cases where young girls
\nare not insured.<\/p>\n
3) The possible long-term side effects of Gardasil are not yet known.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013
\nAll tied up
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n
So given the unknown long-term side effects, the exorbitant cost of
\nGardasil, and the fact that HPV cervical cancer is easily avoided, why
\nwould Gov. Perry mandate that every female sixth-grader in Texas receive
\nthe vaccine? And why would he do it in such a way that would completely
\nbypass the Texas Legislature (overriding debate and oversight)?<\/p>\n
Could the ties that Gov. Perry has with Merck have a little something to do
\nwith it?<\/p>\n
According to the Associated Press, Merck\u2019s political action committee
\ndonated $6,000 to Gov. Perry\u2019s recent campaign for re-election. But that\u2019s
\njust part of the picture. An advocacy group called Women in Government is
\nheading up the effort to persuade state legislatures across the country to
\nmake Gardasil vaccinations mandatory, and Merck is funding the Women in
\nGovernment efforts.<\/p>\n
This is where it all gets more than a little sticky for Gov. Perry. The AP
\nreports that his former chief of staff is a Texas lobbyist for Merck, and
\nthe mother-in-law of Perry\u2019s current chief of staff is a state director for
\nWomen in Government.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013
\nTexas hotline
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know about you, but I find all of this infuriating. It\u2019s bad enough
\nthat this unnecessary vaccine will be mandatory in Texas. But the fact that
\nGov. Perry seems to have Merck\u2019s best interests in mind \u2013 at the expense of
\nhis Texas constituents \u2013 is intolerable.<\/p>\n
According to the AP, the Texas Legislature cannot repeal Gov. Perry\u2019s
\norder, so it will be in effect until the governor or his successor changes
\nit. Nevertheless, I\u2019ve already written an e-mail to the Governor\u2019s office
\n(and I hope you will too) at this address:
\npublicrecords@governor.state.tx.us. You can also call the Citizen\u2019s Opinion
\nHotline at 800-252-9600 (for Texas residents), or 512-463-1782 (for
\nout-of-state callers).<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s just a start.<\/p>\n
If you know a parent of a young girl in Texas, I\u2019m sure they\u2019ve heard all
\nabout this controversy. What they may not have heard, however, is that
\nparents in Texas can avoid any mandatory vaccine by asking their doctor how
\nto file an affidavit stating that they object to the vaccine.<\/p>\n
And finally, you can contact the legislature in your state to voice your
\nopinion about Merck\u2019s efforts to make Gardasil a mandatory vaccine. On the
\nweb site for Women in Government (womeningovernment.org) you\u2019ll find a U.S.
\nmap that details the status of the Merck initiative in your state.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The shocking order that Texas Governor Rick Perry issued last week, making
\nhis state the first in the union to mandate that all girls entering sixth
\ngrade receive a vaccine that protects against certain strains of the human
\npapillomavirus (HPV).<\/p>\n
But in addition to travesty, sham, and mockery, let’s add the word
\n“generous,” because Gov. Perry’s order turns out to be a very generous gift
\nto…the people of Texas? No. Not even close. It’s a generous gift to
\nMerck, the maker of the vaccine.<\/p>\n
——————————————–
\nEasy to avoid
\n——————————————–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1522,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n