On Feb 2nd, Texas governor Rick Perry issued an executive order mandating the vaccination of young girls with the Gardasil HPV vaccine sold by Merck. What a storm that unleashed. The Texas legislature screamed foul. The Republican Party screamed foul. And many alternative health experts screamed foul.
But not all for the same reason.
- The legislature didn’t really object in principle to the mandate. They just didn’t like the fact that the governor did it. They felt it usurped their authority. They wanted the credit for doing it, and didn’t want the governor hogging it all to himself.
- Republican conservatives objected because they felt it condoned premarital sex.
- Alternative health voices felt that it was government usurpation of personal choice and that it was driven by money — as evidenced by the fact that a key lobbyist for Merck (the company that makes the vaccine) was Governor Perry’s former Chief of Staff..
So what’s the reality?
Governor Perry’s decision does not exist in a vacuum. This goes back to NYC’s proposal to ban trans fats, an idea that received national acclaim and that was supported by most health experts and most alternative health voices. The acclaim was so loud that the proposal has since been emulated by city after city. Let’s get real. This was highly predictable. In fact, it was a no brainer. Politicians live for this kind of acclaim. Because NYC received so much good press and so little flack, Governor Perry thought he had an easy winner here too, and thought he could get credit for being first — thus the reason for bypassing the legislature.
Unfortunately for Governor Perry, although he could easily have ignored the voices of alternative health (governments do it all the time), he could not ignore the voices of angry legislators and members of his own party who felt slighted. In his latest pronouncements, he has backed off from his original mandate and told the legislature the final authority rests with them.
But make no mistake here. His backing down was purely the result of a political power play. It had nothing to do with appeals made to letting people be in charge of their own health. Unfortunately, all of the eggs of praise that were created by the adulation given to NYC for their trans fat proposal have begun to hatch. Governor Perry’s proposal is not the last we will see in which government tries to mandate what’s best for our health. The chickens are just starting to come home to roost.
Indeed the chickens have come home to roost. After 40+ years of a cultural stamp-of-approval on pre-marital sex, serial monogamy, 50% divorce rates, all adding up to multiple sex partners for almost every American, it is no wonder that HPV and other sexually transmitted diseases are epidemic. What a tragedy. HPV is caused by a virus that is transmitted from having multiple sex partners. Is anyone teaching that? No.. If as much effort and $$ was put forth in supporting that truth instead of pushing more drugs, we would be a healthier nation in many ways.
“”Certain types of sexual behavior increase a woman’s risk of getting HPV infection:
having sex at an early age
having many sexual partners
having a partner who has had many sex partners
having sex with uncircumcised males””
This is an interesting topic for me because I have had HPV for about 13 years. I don’t believe in giving this vaccine to teenagers! It seems that every disease know to man, the solution is to invent a vaccine. I have been researching alternative medicines for a few months now and with everything that I have read, I am definitely on your side. I find it hard to pick up the phone to call the doctor. My question is, is there a cure or treatment for this? I worry about it all the time and I just want one less thing to worry about. Thanks so much for the work you do and your book is wonderful. Its a must have for everyone!
Thanks again,
Trina