IT'S PROBABLY a safe bet that in the minds of most people, sex education for middle school girls does not include supporting promiscuity. This certainly would not be the expectation for a conservative state like Texas. To the shock of many, though, Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) did exactly that on February 2nd, with an executive order requiring all girls entering sixth grade at public schools to have received the Gardasil vaccine. Gardasil immunizes recipients against some forms of HPV (Human Papillomavirus), a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer. Perry and other advocates of mandating the vaccine focus on the serious effects of cervical cancer. But they ignore the fact that HPV is transmitted exclusively through sexual contact, and end up imposing an unnecessary burden on families that does nothing to protect their daughters' well-being.
Lest this be perceived as an attack on the vaccine itself, let this be clear: cervical cancer is a horrible disease, and we should welcome an HPV vaccine and make it widely available. The disagreement here is not whether 11-year-old girls should be allowed to receive the HPV vaccine, but whether the government should force them to do so. Disappointingly, there are quite a few supporters for mandating the vaccine. Texas is the only state where the HPV vaccination is mandatory, but according to NPR, eighteen states and the District of Columbia are considering the idea.
Because of their invasive nature, vaccinations are procedures that the government should require only in very serious cases. Mandatory immunization makes sense for dangerous diseases that can be spread easily, such as through liquid, air or direct contact. A mandatory HPV vaccine would make sense in a setting where sexual activity is expected, such as, for example, government-run brothels. But these are not prostitutes; these are eleven and twelve-year-old children. There is something very wrong when our political leaders expect middle-school girls to be sexually active.
The fact that this mandatory vaccine targets a sexually transmitted disease is what has outraged so many people. Gardasil is completely unnecessary for anyone who is not sexually active, as we would reasonably expect most 11-year-olds to be. Even worse, it will encourage sexual activity among young girls. With one common risk inherent in promiscuous behavior removed, more girls will start to be sexually active at younger ages. It is shocking that Perry, a politician who has always held conservative positions on "values issues," would support this.
Of course, there is a simpler explanation for why Perry and other politicians are pushing mandatory HPV vaccines -- corruption. Pharmaceutical companies, like all of Big Business, are very involved in politics. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent research group that studies campaign finances, the pharmaceutical industry donated almost $18 billion the 2006 election cycle. Last year's congressional lobbying scandals of were only the most recent reminder of the potential of campaign donations to influence public policy.
After the announcement of Perry's executive order, the Houston Chronicle published some rather interesting information on the activities of Merck & Co. Merck is the manufacturer of Gardasil, the only HPV vaccine currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Rick Perry's former chief of staff, Mike Toomey, currently works for Merck as one of its three lobbyists in Texas. The governor's current chief of staff also has family ties to a group called Women in Government, which receives funding from Merck. These connections do not prove any wrongdoing, but it is hard not to see them as signs of shady dealings.
The Chronicle also reported that Gardasil costs $360, making it the most expensive vaccine ever mandated. Gardasil will be unaffordable for some families, but if the vaccine becomes required by many states, Merck will make billions of dollars. At the same time that many states are debating the vaccine, the company is engaged in intensive lobbying and advertising campaigns. Merck has a clear incentive for states to mandate the vaccine, because, according to the Washington Post, competing company GlaxoSmithKline is developing its own HPV vaccine. Called Cervarix, it may be submitted for approval by the end of 2007. Merck undoubtedly is rushing to sell as many doses of Gardasil as possible before a competing product enters the market.
Whether these politicians pushing mandatory vaccines are motivated by unsavory political considerations or honest belief in the vaccines' necessity, they ought to be ashamed of themselves. States should not be imposing unnecessary, expensive medical requirements on eleven-year old girls, especially when those requirements concern their sexual activity. Quite simply, this is an abuse of power, and Americans should not allow these politicians to get away with it.
Stephen Parsley's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at sparsley@cavalierdaily.com.
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