I wish this vaccine had been around when my children were young. One of them has this condition. She has already lost chunks of her cervix and may not be able to carry a child to term. Granted it probably should not be a law but the people complaining the most are the ones that will complain even more when their children develop this.

Mary, I am sorry about your child, but the entire core of this argument is not a situational one, but a philisophical one. Do we own ourselves as individuals or not?

The vaccine is freely available to any who choose, and parents have the right to make those decisions for their children. To have no decision at the point of a gun is a whole different matter.

I am betting Marys last name is Perry.

"The federal government approved Gardasil in June, and a government advisory panel has recommended that all girls get the shots at 11 and 12, before they are likely to be sexually active."

I'm no doctor, but I think that anyone who wasn't an anti-vaccine fanatic (and there are a lot of them) would understand that to mean that mandating Gardasil for young girls is probably a good idea. Every medication, with very few exceptions, has some rather extreme side effects. Chemotherapy is highly poisonous, but it saves lives every year. At some point, we have to make sensible decisions about whether any given medicine is worth its inherent risks, and there are many. If, for example, a medicine will kill or disable 100 at-risk people a year but will save the lives of 10,000 in that same year, that's a good deal. It sucks if you're a friend or relative of one of the 100, but it's priceless to the 10,000.

And in this case, you don't have to have your daughter take the vaccine if you don't want to.

People have a right NOT to have something THEY DON'T WANT to be put in to their own body. We have other means of protecting ourselves from STDs. Things like educating our kids, condoms, and abstinence. This ruling is unconstitutional and only serves the socialist and communist ideals that have become a cancer to on society.

I fully agree that EDUCATION IS THE KEY!!!

This is not about protecting children. This is about the government replacing parents in child rearing. We need to fight this with everything we have.

"At some point, we have to make sensible decisions about whether any given medicine is worth its inherent risks, and there are many. If, for example, a medicine will kill or disable 100 at-risk people a year but will save the lives of 10,000 in that same year, that's a good deal. It sucks if you're a friend or relative of one of the 100, but it's priceless to the 10,000."~ BJTurk

maybe 100 in 10,000 are good odds for playing a lotto game...not for my children's lives. Have you even read what this drug can do to girls? Many are losing the chance to have children before they can ever get a chance to start having children. I would take my chances with the cervical cancer any day! Let's see getting a disease on my own or having one given to me when I may have never gotten it??? Not a hard choice here!

This article was last updated 2/3/2007 1:00:35 PM ET

That means this has been happening for 4 years and no one has died and the instance of teen pregnancy has not gone up or down in Texas. That means all you fear mongering religious types are completely wrong.

As a former high school teenager who was taught abstinence I will tell all of you with your heads in the sand, that the only thing that actually curbs teen pregnancy and STDs is condoms and birth control.

Soooo, Perry signs bill, which undoubtedly leads to campaign funding, then immediately enters presidential race. That's not crroked in any sense of the word, is it now?

Besides this blatant and unveiled pandering to a lobbyist, I strongly oppose this action for another reason: the vaccine hasn't been out long enough for a discerning parent to get reports on true long-term effects. We aren't going to see these begin to surface for possibly another decade. This particular vaccine is not in the same category as the big ones that are accepted as mandatory: Polio, MMR, etc. Parents, especially in this early age of product adoption should have a choice!!

@ Randy-2190191,

"McGettrick said "it's a non-issue for us, because the HPV vaccine was never added to the state's list of required immunizations once lawmakers froze the order until the starting date of the 2011 regular legislative session." www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2736814/posts

Which is pointing out that the vaccine never made it to school grounds because the Senate had enough sense to rebuke it in a HB not long after Perry mandated it. Therefore, you cannot know if girls had serious health consequences from it because they weren't vaccinated.

.

Bravo Jennifer! I completely agree with you! I am a nurse and it IS dangerous!

Lou Ghearigs disease, or ALS is extremely rare in the general population, so can you cite at least 3 series studies where this has been proved. Nothing curbs teenage sex, nothing, and I went to high school during the abstinence only Bush years, teen pregnancy actually went up by comparison to when I was in middle school and they gave us condoms. You have both annecdotal and statistical evidence that proves abistinence only education is completely inneffective, yet you continue to live with your head in the sand. Grow up.

BTW the article is dated 2007

Thank you for the link! Although I didn't find anything much on that page, I found a link to another one that had some interesting info about Gardasil, HPV, and cervical cancer that I did not know.

I hate that people make this a religious issue. It's a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, which is not exactly commonly thought of as an STD. I reeeaaally don't think it will promote promiscuity. Seriously. That's crazy. I'm a conservative Christian and I think it should be evaluated based on the actual need (cancer prevention) vs side effects. The most upsetting thing about all of this is the company's greed and the FDA's willing cooperation in fast-tracking the vaccine (and lots of other drugs on the market - shame on the FDA!). The FDA needs to do it's job and protect American citizens again, and if this vaccine is going to be required, Merck should be required to lower it's price.

It is a religious issue for many of us because they use dead babies to grow a lot of the vaccines. ABT or Aborted Fetal Tissue is present in many vaccines. You realize some vaccines you can't have if you are allergic to eggs because they are grown in eggs, right? That's because there are trace amounts of eggs still in the vaccines. Same for ABT (dead babies).. sorry, NO DEAD BABIES INJECTED INTO MY BABIES! That is why it is religious.. VERY *unclean* :(

ConcernedMomma8, do you have any evidence or a single study to prove any of the bull@!$%# you just said. I didn't think so. Vaccines are made from dead bacteria, not dead baby. God does not suffer fools, so why don't you go on the google and find yourself a clue. BTW it would help if the info came from wikipedia or a medical journal, and not a college of medicine endorsed by Pat Robertson, or any religious organization. You know, real science.

Maybe you are the Moron Randy. Look it up, there is aborted fetal tissue in many vaccines not to mention numerous other toxins. People that do not vacciante make that choice for a reason. I am not against the idea of vaccinations. I am against the toxic waste that is put into them. If someone can come up with vaccinations that don't contain toxic waste then I would be on board with that. I have my own kids to get to and do not have the time to look it up for you but obviously you own a computer. Look up the ingredients in some vaccines, from websites other than the makers of these wonderful shots.

First, parents are allowed to opt out, so nobody's little girl will "be made to get a vaccine." Second, with very few exceptions, every medicine has serious side effects. Most prescription medications list death among their side effects. If, on your behalf, your parents had kept from you every medication that did not, you might be limited to simethicone, which helps with gas, but you would probably have died long ago...

Sorry this is such a late reply. After I realized the article was so dated, I let it go. Okay, I see where it says parents can opt out, but as a "requirement" who knows where it could lead to as these things seem to pick up speed as they start rolling. Which is kind of like what you did when you pointed out that most medications list death as a side effect and we should all be happy we've had them or we could be dead by now... The possibility of getting a life threatening illness such as H. Influenza B for an 11 or 12 year seems to warrant getting the Hib vaccine. Whereas the possibility of my 11 or 12 year old getting genital warts that turn into cervical cancer within five years seems minimal in my common sense opinion. Therefore, I'm glad I had my vaccinations and didn't die, but putting my daughter at risk for death for this vaccine seems silly.

This article was last updated 2/3/2007 1:00:35 PM ET

Good to see it's still raining crazy in America, all these idiotic comments over an 4 year old article.

Outragious, I readily agree with your thoughts on the Governor's wanted mandate being appalling, and that loss of rights and greed appear to be a factor. Still, I don't believe that, that's the face of Socialism/Communism.

Yeah, and the vaccine may even cause cases of zombification in .01% of the population, leading to an inevitable Z-day apocalypse. Better start stockpiling food and ammo.

My wife had a doctor treat my wife like she was a negligent parent for not giving our daughter the shot (now 14). Needless to say, we don't go to that doctor anymore.

What it boils down to is do we own ourselves or not?

What is truly frightening is the thought that if we parents opt out, not only will we be seen as neglectful, but the gov't can intervene, call out Child Services, take our children away and force the vaccine on them while in custody. If our children afterwards suffer adverse effects or even die, the gov't is practically immune to prosecution. It's a lose-lose situation for us.

We must fight and stop rolling over to government nannyism and totalitarianism. We must stop seeing these "democrat" and "republican" labels and see things for what they really are: members from both parties are all the same. We need to stop the status quo, vote for individuals based on their actions and ethics, and take our country back!

Z-day is coming!

Extreme sarcasm, or absolute insanity?!

But, the shot has the potential to cause Zombificaition in .01% of the population, which will then spread rapidly. Didn't you watch I am Legend? The end is nigh! We must save our children from the Zombie threat. Better start building up your cardio!

Amen! And here I was just getting interested in his possible run for Prez. No longer interested in a thing he has to say. The progressive, nanny-state, non-Constitutionalist has just told us all who he really is. No need to even watch his lips move anymore.

Dear Lord, please deliver us from the evils of the cervical cancer vaccine-ah, and ah all the sin it will cause our young sons and daughters to partake in, and ah bring the day of reckoning our enemies-ah and send all the non-believers to hell......ah And ah Lord please provide us with a holy bounty of food, clean white neighbors, and all the ammunition we can stockpile.

Why is it the religious right sounds just like the Taliban?

Hey, "medical professional" aka drug pushing western medicine FRAUD, GET OUT OF MY LIFE. I DONT WANT YOU OR YOUR FRIGGING OPINIONS. Go back to pushing drugs. I dont want them.

It's a sad day in America when the nuts outweigh the sane people. The religious right sounds just like the Taliban, they never want to hear any opposing view to their own short sighted religious hypocracy

They found a cure for leukemia, a modified HIV virus that targets only cancer cells, but not a single pharma company wants to fund it. It was on MSNBC just last week. There is no profit to a cure.

didn't even take that long to cause it...already happening

Somehow I don't think that someone with SavedbyHisGrace, is going to have an fact filled and educated opinion on the subject.......I think you just making @!$%# up.

Puh-leeze. Republicans? How about ALL POLITICIANS? When are you morons going to learn? There is no left/right, there is POLITICAL DOMINATION, they both do it, like the demoncats wanted to do SB 510 and basically outlaw non commercial farming.

And your rat vermin oligarchical collectivists friend of the banking cabal NWO globalist loving Obama is forcing a deathcare system on the USA, talk about FORCE, nationalizing a 6th of the economy.

What a bloody hypocrite.

So you don't want Social Security benefits? How about a military and police force to protect you? How bout that department that comes and puts out a fire at your house? How about those building they keep all the murderers, rapists and thieves in, those prisons? How about those national parks you probably want to bulldoze to make room for oil drilling that you personally will never see a dime from, how about the bank you keep your money in that is backed by FDIC, or the money you spend that is backed by the Government you want out of your life so badly? Those "roads" you drive on to get around town wouldn't be hear without that government that pisses you off so much, that interstate highway systems that allows goods to travel at what was unheard of speeds 100 years ago, to your home and local businesses was built by the federal government. Then there is that clean water you drink that was federally mandated to be safe standard. How about the nuclear power plant built on govt. subsidies and research that provides electrcity to your home. What about all the modern conveniences that are products of govt research during WW2, the cold war and the space race? Velco, Computers, Nuclear Energy, Microwaves, Solar Cells, High Speed telecommunication equipment, oh and last but not least the frigging Internet was invented by a govt agency called DARPA

It's easy to get the govt. out of your life, just move to a deserted island, see how long you last on your own.

Damn, it is an old article, so this has been going on for 3 years then?

Yes, they should not have to object, some parents do not know they have a choice to object...sure sure it's their fault, whatever, Things should be clearly explained not "You must get the vaccine" in bold print then in the tiniest print it says you may object, or not even that let's just tell them they have to, and then leave the part about how they can object in the law write up itself "cause they will never look there." muuuuwwwwahhhhahahahaha