Sex, Politics, Viruses, and Vaccines

In 2007 Governor Rick Perry of Texas issued an executive order (it was not the result of the legislative process) requiring all girls in the sixth grade (between the ages of 11 and 12) to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV). The rationale behind this executive order was that Gardisal and Cervarix, the vaccines produced by the pharmaceutical companies Merck and Glaxo respectively, significantly reduce the chances of HPV developing into a variety of different cancers, most prominent among them being cervical cancer, as well as genital warts. Given the high likelihood of women contracting some form of HPV throughout their life, with estimates of 12,000 women contracting cervical cancer every year and 4,000 dying from it, these vaccines would go a long way towards preventing needless deaths and protecting the health of women.

However, no sooner than the new vaccines were announced did controversies begin to swirl. Conservative religious groups such as Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council protested that these vaccinations would encourage premarital sex and promiscuity. Health insurance companies protested the exorbitant cost of the vaccine – $122 per shot, with three treatments required – wondering how they would cover the vaccinations. Parents belonging to the anti-vaccine movement worried about potentially dire unintended side-effects of the vaccine. Others saw the issue as one of parental rights, objecting to children being mandated to receive the vaccine.