Texas HPV vaccine mandate in the news
There has been a great deal in the news this week about Gardasil (and a corresponding spike in our traffic), much of which has been triggered by Texas Gov. Rick Perry's executive order on Friday requiring sixth-grade girls to be vaccinated against HPV. Here's the text of the executive order and an accompanying press release from the governor's office. Quoting Perry, "Requiring young girls to get vaccinated before they come into contact with HPV is responsible health and fiscal policy that has the potential to significantly reduce cases of cervical cancer and mitigate future medical costs."
Perry, a Republican, has received criticism for this decision from members of his own political party and conservative organizations, as this AP story and this Houston Chronicle story explain. Perry released a second statement over the weekend, saying, in part,
Today's New York Times includes an editorial praising Perry for the decision. In fairness, it argues far more convincingly for HPV vaccination generally than it does for a state mandate (though strong arguments can certainly be made for it.)
Independent of discussions about the appropriateness of philosophical exemptions from vaccination (such as Paul Offit's op-ed we noted here), the current state mandate system means that no parents will be forced to vaccinate their children against their will. However, years of experience have shown that state mandates provide the structures and encouragement necessary to maximize a vaccine's benefit across communities, particularly reaching those without regular access to medical care whom cervical cancer targets disproportionately.
When considering vaccine mandates, we should not focus our attention on those with strong beliefs opposing vaccination, as the exemption procedures provide, for better or worse, a relatively simple remedy. Instead, we must consider those silent in these debates, those not receiving even basic medical care, much less tracking the minute-by-minute developments regarding Gardasil. For them, state mandates have been shown repeatedly to provide the awareness and stimulus needed for the vaccine to reach all who could benefit from it.
Perry, a Republican, has received criticism for this decision from members of his own political party and conservative organizations, as this AP story and this Houston Chronicle story explain. Perry released a second statement over the weekend, saying, in part,
Indeed, likely lost in the headlines pointing to a "mandate" is the important point that the exemption policies already in place in Texas will apply to HPV vaccination in the same way, including parents having the ability to decline vaccination for 'philosophical reasons'. In fact, proponents of vaccine mandates will likely be disappointed to learn that the executive order also instructs state officials to make the exemption process easier by creating a system in which parents can decline vaccination online."Providing the HPV vaccine doesn’t promote sexual promiscuity anymore than providing the Hepatitis B vaccine promotes drug use. If the medical community developed a vaccine for lung cancer, would the same critics oppose it claiming it would encourage smoking?
"Finally, parents need to know that they have the final decision about whether or not their daughter is vaccinated. I am a strong believer in protecting parental rights, which is why this executive order allows them to opt out."
Today's New York Times includes an editorial praising Perry for the decision. In fairness, it argues far more convincingly for HPV vaccination generally than it does for a state mandate (though strong arguments can certainly be made for it.)
Independent of discussions about the appropriateness of philosophical exemptions from vaccination (such as Paul Offit's op-ed we noted here), the current state mandate system means that no parents will be forced to vaccinate their children against their will. However, years of experience have shown that state mandates provide the structures and encouragement necessary to maximize a vaccine's benefit across communities, particularly reaching those without regular access to medical care whom cervical cancer targets disproportionately.
When considering vaccine mandates, we should not focus our attention on those with strong beliefs opposing vaccination, as the exemption procedures provide, for better or worse, a relatively simple remedy. Instead, we must consider those silent in these debates, those not receiving even basic medical care, much less tracking the minute-by-minute developments regarding Gardasil. For them, state mandates have been shown repeatedly to provide the awareness and stimulus needed for the vaccine to reach all who could benefit from it.
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