California's HPV Vaccine Law Saves Lives
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Gov. Jerry Brown did society a great favor by signing a bill into law Sunday that will encourage HPV vaccinations amongst the target demographic—12-year-old girls. (Randy Bayne, Creative Commons)
The thing is, we do have the means to prevent some cases of cervical cancer. It's called the HPV vaccine. And Gov. Jerry Brown did society a great favor by signing a bill into law Sunday that will encourage HPV vaccinations amongst the target demographic—12-year-old girls.
The new law allows girls in California as young as 12 to receive an HPV vaccination without a parent's knowledge or consent. It has apparently outraged a lot of people, who believe this measure both encourages promiscuity in preteen girls and interferes with parents' ability to make decisions for children who cannot even legally vote or drive.
These fears are not well-founded. Allowing preteen and teenage girls to seek the HPV vaccine independently is not some fluky radical doctrine designed to encourage moral anarchy and undermine the parent's role in society; on the contrary, its working to prevent the very consequences opponents of the law believe it could lead to. Gov. Brown signed this bill into law as an extension of previous legislature that already allows minors to seek diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases without parental consent. Such legislature promotes the welfare of teenagers, the family, and society in general by ensuring that difference of opinion or discomfort do not leave minors unable to access the medical care they need. It also helps to lessen the risk of knowingly or unknowingly spreading infection to others.
The argument that the presence of this legal and medical safety net leads to riskier sexual behavior at a younger age is preposterous. No sane individual goes out of his or her way to contract a sexually transmitted disease, no matter how accessible treatment might be. No teenager is going to delight in contracting HIV or Herpes just because people at home don't hear about it.
Meanwhile, parents who take it as a personal attack on their child-rearing ability that the government has provided minors the options of taking their sexual health into their own hands should consider that they are being narcissistic and narrow-minded. The government isn't trying to wage some sort of war on parental authority; in fact, parents are hardly part of the issue at all. The goal is to keep people safe and healthy, regardless of age, and to make sure no complication or obstacle—whether it comes from the family or some other source—gets in the way of that.
In this case, what that goal translates to is getting as many preteen girls vaccinated against HPV as possible. While many of the roughly forty strains of HPV are essentially harmless and will go away on their own, others can have devastating consequences. Gardasil, the more commonly used of the two HPV vaccines, protects against just four strains of HPV—however these four strains account for almost 70% of cervical cancer cases and 90% of cases of genital warts. Those numbers are huge. Factor in the approval of the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and there's not much reason to stand in the way.
California's recent bill helps to prevent just that.
Beyond the blatant denial of a medical benefit, it is particularly mind-blowing that opponents of the vaccine law cannot see how positive of an impact it could have on teenage awareness and responsibility. The mere act of a 12-year-old girl taking the initiative to go to a physician and seek out an HPV vaccine for herself demonstrates that she is beginning to make mature and informed decisions about her health. Additionally, this act creates an ideal opportunity to start an open dialogue between girls and health care providers about sexual decision making, the risks of sexual activity, and how best to protect oneself from both disease and unwanted pregnancy.
Is it really such a bad thing that California is encouraging girls to take charge of their own physical and sexual well-being at a younger age, to make important decisions regarding sex before they become sexually active and it might be too late? I certainly don't think so.
Cervical cancer remains the second leading cancer killer of women worldwide. It doesn't have to be. Parents of preteen girls need to stop raising hell over the supposed implications of California's new HPV vaccine law and consider the message it's really trying to send: this vaccine should be as accessible as possible, to help keep young women safe, educated, and free of disease.
Comments
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I, personally, was reading this in utter disbelief. How is it that so many people don't see that pharma doesn't want people to get better? There's no money in it for them! And the FDA? They won't pass a drug unless it's backed by a ton of money, so where's their drive to push the truth about dangers? I'll say it as it was mentioned in the movie Fight Club, they weight the cost of a lawsuit vs the cost of a recall. Now, it is up to the medical "professionals" who make a living off sick people and big pharma to inform impressionable children of the "benefits" of this vaccine. Apparently the author of this article, a full grown woman, was taken by their deceit, and yet, they say that 12 yr old girls are capable of making a huge life-changing(or ending) decision without any truly neutral(factual) input? The age of twelve is the time when they should be learning how to make important decisions, learning how to differentiate between good info and bad info. These girls aren't even fully matured physically yet let alone mentally. And of course, the government passed the bill being pushed by big pharma because money talks.
But, it is a great relief to see so many people who see through this facade. Their goal cannot be to help you if their money comes from your pain. Think about it.
I am neither a proponent of abstinence-only education nor an anti-vaccine fanatic. My 11-year old daughter has received the talk about sex and about both birth control AND about protecting herself from STDs. If she uses protection to prevent the transmission of AIDS, herpes and a whole host of other STDs, she'll be protected from HPV as well.
My kids received all of their shots on schedule. But it was my choice to do so and I had to sign a waiver outlining all of the risks associated with each shot. It was required that I sign the document before my children could be vaccinated. What bothers me, is that my 11-year old daughter is not old enough to weigh the pros and cons, nor is she legally allowed to sign a consent form. How are they going to get around that? And there ARE adverse effects. Yes 95% are not severe, but if I don't even know she's been vaccinated, how do I know if I should seek medical attention?
My belief is that until my kids are 18, they are my responsibility to protect and keep healthy. My kids know about sex, using protection and more. Nearly all cases of HPV resolve on their own and only a few ever turn into cancer. In the U.S. most cervical cancers are caught early due to regular pap screenings. I'm fine with her getting the vaccine when she's older, but either it needs to be her choice as an 18-year old adult, or I need to consent to it as her well-informed parent.
It further bothers me how much money the pharmaceutical companies are spending to lobby government officials, pay doctors and nurses, etc. to get the mandates, laws, and push for vaccination. If it were polio, measles, mumps, whooping cough, etc. I'd be okay with it. But those vaccines are making $1.6 billion a year for those companies. I'm not against businesses making a profit, but I'd feel better about if they just put the vaccine out there and allowed people to make a decision for themselves. Advertise. Fine. Stop lobbying governors to mandate it or lawmakers to pass legislation to allow my daughter to be scared into getting a vaccine without my knowledge. Gardilsil comes with a 37-page insert. My 11-year old daughter isn't going t read that before she says yes. And she's more likely to say yes to a school nurse or pediatrician who tells her she might die some day if she doesn't get it.
It is embarrasing how many people buy into the anti-vaccine hype. The truth is, HPV vaccine is one of the safest and most effective vaccines on the market. There have been zero deaths associated with administration of the vaccine. Tragically, some young girls did die after receiving the vaccine, but they all had preexisting conditions and there is absolutely no evidence linking their deaths to the vaccine. However, there is more than substantial evidence linking HPV strains 16 and 18 to cervical, penile, anogenital, lung, throat and oral cancers. People should educate themselves by consulting with reliable, well-regarded authorities on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics or the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists instead of buying into the hype.
There is another way to totally prevent HPV and cancer/herpes caused by HPV. It's called abstinence. Why are we not telling our children the importance of abstinence instead of promoting a vaccine that would not be needed except for promiscuity. As a mom I am outraged that my child could receive a shot that could potentially kill her and I have no say in the matter. THAT IS WRONG!!!
You are so wrong. This stuff is not safe and is poison and Brown has just done a great disservice to children and people everywhere. He was pressured and probably paid off to do this by the sickness and death industry big pharmaceutical companies.
You are so wrong. This stuff is not safe and is poison and Brown has just done a great disservice to children and people everywhere. He was pressured and probably paid off to do this by the sickness and death industry big pharmaceutical companies.
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Unfortunately, STD rates soar worldwide and most people with STDs don't even know that they have them. The government should grant more money for STD education to lower the rates of STD transmission.
I have herpes and I am an engineer who works for the largest herpes dating and support site SinglesHerpes. com. I have to tell you a secret, you can choose not to believe me. But the truth is that this site has more than 650,000 members and about 80% members are good looking in my estimation.
Unfortunately, STD rates soar worldwide and most people with STDs don't even know that they have them. The government should grant more money for STD education to lower the rates of STD transmission.
I have herpes and I am an engineer who works for the largest herpes dating and support site SinglesHerpes. com. I have to tell you a secret, you can choose not to believe me. But the truth is that this site has more than 650,000 members and about 80% members are good looking in my estimation.
Unfortunately, STD rates soar worldwide and most people with STDs don't even know that they have them. The government should grant more money for STD education to lower the rates of STD transmission.