Texas push to require HPV vaccine thwarted by legislature

Gov Rick Perry, a man with close ties to the Religious Right, ordered that all pre-teen girls be HPV vaccinated out of concern for the health of Texan citizens. He shows that political leaders can follow their religious consciences as well as make policy decisions for the public. You can support reproductive choice and still oppose abortion, or support HPV vaccination and oppose pre-marital sex. Of course, Texas' Legislature is less concerned with womens' health than with promoting abstinence - which is generally ineffective.




AUSTIN (Reuters) -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday he is backing down in his effort to require that pre-teen girls be vaccinated against a virus known to cause cervical cancer after the state's legislature overturned his order.

The February order would have made Texas the first U.S. state to require that girls receive the Merck & Co. Inc.'s (Charts, Fortune 500) vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) so they can enroll in sixth grade, when most students are 11 or 12 years old. But social conservatives opposed it, saying it would lead to sexual promiscuity.

The Republican-majority Texas Legislature passed a bill last month contravening the order by preventing the vaccination program for at least four years. Several other states are also considering requiring the vaccine.

Perry announced Tuesday he would not veto that bill, meaning it will become law. Perry said a veto was futile because the legislature would vote to override it. He blasted the legislature for its decision.

"They have sent me a bill that will ensure three-quarters of our young women will be susceptible to a virus that not only kills hundreds each year but causes great discomfort and harm to thousands more," said an emotional Perry.

Perry, a Republican with close ties to the religious right, surprised observers when he issued the order in February.

The girls would have been vaccinated with Merck's Gardasil, which won U.S. approval last June as the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, a disease that kills about 300,000 women worldwide each year.

The vaccine, which targets four HPV types believed to cause more than 70 percent of cervical cancer cases and 90 percent of genital warts, is cleared for use in girls and young women aged 9 to 26. In clinical trials, Gardasil was shown to be 100 perce