Conservatives Favor ‘Purity’ over Cancer Vaccine

Late last month a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel unanimously recommended approval of a vaccine for the human papilloma virus (HPV). The vaccine appears to be 100 percent effective at protecting against the most prevalent viruses that cause cervical cancer. While public health professionals view the vaccine as miraculous, many conservative organizations opposed it on the grounds that it might encourage promiscuity among adolescent girls. Now that it appears certain that the FDA will approve the vaccine, conservatives are attempting to discourage its use.

The pharmaceutical giant Merck produced the vaccine known as Gardasil. It will be nothing short of a lifesaver for many women. Cervical cancer is the second most prevalent cancer killer among women in America, striking nearly 14,000 women each year. Of those, nearly 4,000 die annually. Poor women and women of color will benefit the most from the vaccine, as Latino and black women have the highest rates of cervical cancer. Lower-income women typically lack the funds and health insurance necessary to have regular screenings for HPV.

Despite the benefits of the vaccine, conservative organizations began to rally against it last year. One of the most vocal opponents was the Family Research Council. The council “promotes the Judeo-Christian worldview as the basis for a just, free, and stable society.” Last October the council’s president, Tony Perkins, spoke decidedly against the vaccine. Mr. Perkins proclaimed, “Our concern is that this vaccine will be marketed to a segment of the population that should be getting a message about abstinence. It sends the wrong message.” He even stated that he would not vaccinate his 13-year-old daughter.

Another organization that promotes abstinence is the Physicians Consortium. The head of the consortium, Dr. Hal Wallis, was also critical. In his opinion, “If you don’t want to suffer these diseases, you need to abstain, and when you find a partner, stick with that partner.” The founder of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse also opposed the vaccine. This organization was formed “to promote the appreciation for and practice of sexual abstinence (purity) until marriage.” Leslee Unruh, the organization’s founder, stated firmly, “I personally object to vaccinating children against a disease that is 100 percent preventable with proper sexual behavior.”

Now that FDA approval is all but certain, conservative organizations are strategizing to blunt acceptance of the vaccine. Much of this effort is directed toward the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). This committee is a part of the Centers for Disease Control, and is responsible for establishing the classification of vaccines that the government recommends. This recommendation prompts states to require a particular vaccination, typically guarantees that insurance companies will cover it, and determines the level of public funding.

In 2003 President Bush appointed a medical doctor, Reginald Finger, to the ACIP. Until last fall, Dr. Finger was also the medical affairs analyst for Focus on the Family, the nation’s largest and most powerful evangelical Christian organization. In an effort to gain the support of this group, Merck has been forced to aggressively lobby Focus. Merck has admitted to holding numerous meetings with Dr. Finger at Focus’ headquarters. It’s troubling that a vaccine manufacturer has to be concerned with securing the backing of a conservative Christian organization. And Merck will likely have an uphill battle.

Although children are required to have various vaccinations before attending public schools, conservatives are against the ACIP recommending this for the HPV vaccine. The Christian Medical & Dental Associations is an organization that “exists to glorify God by advancing Biblical principles in bioethics and health to the Church and society.” The group’s executive director, Dr. Gene Rudd, has stated, “While accepting HPV vaccine is morally acceptable, it should not be mandatory.”

And the Family Research Council has gone even farther. While testifying before an ACIP conference the council’s spokesman informed the ACIP that, “Because parents have an inherent right to be the primary educator and decision maker regarding their children’s health, we would oppose any measures to legally require vaccination. There is no justification for any vaccination mandate as a condition of public school attendance.” And Focus on the Family issued a formal statement declaring that it “supports widespread (universal) availability of HPV vaccines but opposes mandatory HPV vaccinations for entry to public school.”

But in most instances, parents can’t pick and choose what vaccinations they want their children to receive in order to attend public schools. Children are required to be vaccinated against measles, mumps, chicken pox and various other diseases. Public health experts recommend that the HPV vaccine be administered to children between the ages of 11 and 12, before sexual activity commences. And there’s no scientifically defensible reason that it shouldn’t be universally administered.

Of course, there’s the rub. The only objection to the HPV vaccine is based on religious principle. But religious values and beliefs shouldn’t effect FDA approval or recommendation by the ACIP. From a public health perspective, we can’t continue to allow conservatives to depict science as a cultural bogeyman.

see how much purer they are than others.

Suppose that Daughter was as Upright and Pure as any mother and father could want. Suppose she never once had sex until her wedding night. Now how can they be absolutely certain that the man she chooses to marry would have lived the same sort of life, and if he had not, that he would tell the truth?

I cannot believe they would rather see a woman suffer and die than to risk her from being "unpure"

And :party: WELCOME TO DU!! :party:

I don't have words. :grr:


BTW Welcome to DU. Thanks for posting this.:hi:

and the fundamentalists who support them.

That's the phrase we should keep repeating...

Mr. Perkins proclaimed, “Our concern is that this vaccine will be marketed to a segment of the population that should be getting a message about abstinence. It sends the wrong message.”

Am I the only one that reads this to say 'those people, you know, the dark ones, the poor ones'.

We all know about these sick bastards' 'purity'. E.g., from today's homepage:

'Republican Jim Galley, who is running for Congress as a "pro-traditional family" candidate, was married to two women at the same time, defaulted on his child support payments and has been accused of abuse by one of his ex-wives.'

I rest my case...

of poor and minority women"?

"4000 die" annually? I'd say that reaches the threshhold of mass murder.

Crazy fuckers.

That name just gives me the creeps for some reason.

We could wipe out the disease world-wide in a generation. Think about it.

Paging Bill and Melinda Gates....

carry on about abstinence and purity!

of genitalia was a chief component to the presence of promiscuity in human and animal species.
:shrug:

(pardon me, while I leave my computer to &*#$%* anything with facial hair and a pulse)

they are so concerned about what other people do with their own dicks and vaginas, that they miss the truly important issues.

how many of them are concerned that women and children were killed in cold blood in Iraq?
how many of them care about the AIDS deaths in Africa?
how many of them care that no less than 20% of people on death row are innocent of the crimes of which they were tried and convicted?

they are a cancer on society, and they deserve everything that will be coming to them.

That's just another racket for the mafia to get into.

of misogynnistic, hateful, heartless bastards?

That's right, ladies: They want you to DIE, horribly and painfully, if you don't live your life the way THEY want you to.

Redstone

They want to play God so they can control people by controlling their fear.

The lowest form of life thriving on other people's misery.

I won't even associate with RWers any more...

The lowest form of life on the planet would not wish death on a subset of its own group, just because that subset did not want to conform to the commandments of that life-form's "leaders."

Redstone

I don't know much about virology, but if a large segment of the population refuses to be vaccinated against something, doesn't that just create a huge petri dish for the HPV to mutate to a form that the vaccine doesn't prevent, thus enabling HPV to infect the vaccinated population?

my glamour magazine. I was infuriated that anyone would choose not to stop a virus and one that can cause death by cancer. It makes me sick. Its the same thing they are doing with Plan B... dragging their feet because it means that a girl may become promiscuous. B.S., B.S., and more B.S. It is stupid. I am so glad the add campaign on t.v. is nailing the mark... women tell your female friends and get this shot.

Welcome to DU! This is the most rediculous bunch of crap ever. Culture of life my fucking ass...

How about supporting universal health care because it goes along with Judeo-Christian values, such as helping the poor, helping the sick and giving to the needy. Yeah, those are things Jesus spoke about more than anything else, including homosexuality. Oh wait, I forgot, you guys don't want to give away your heard earned dollars because you think the idea is too in line with socialism, and after all, socialism is a Godless idea.

These sick idiots piss me off to no end. Basically they are telling people to follow their rules or else they will die. I can't believe the amount of money these guys spend on shit like this when so many people are in need across the world.

Fascism in the name of Jesus Christ!

I was just pointing out the hypocrisy in what they say and do.

As far as universal health care goes, one would only have to look at the countries that now have it, or some form of it, to understand that it does work, it is more cost effective than our present system, and as a whole, those nations are much healthier than ours. Of industrialized nations, we actually have one of the worst health records. But, of course, most industrialized nations have some form of universal health system. That would account for the fact that our infant mortality rate is dramatically higher here with millions of people not having access to pre-natal health care.

They're trapped in their own self-imposed prison of torment, and misery loves company

like taking it in the poop chute. They hate because they can't be who they want to be. Repression begets repression
Our pResident is a nut.

Pure and simple

that the religious right only cares about human lives up until the point they exit the womb.

If only HPV could be contracted in utero, maybe this cure would be acceptable. :eyes:

Hey fundies! How about saving their lives and THEN worrying about whether they're having "acceptable" sex.

They aren't thinking like that. They are blinded by their fear of the vagina.

One cannot predict a teenage girl's sexual activity at 11 or 12. What if, Ghod forbid, she saves herself until marraige, but her choice of husband didn't? He gives her HPV and she gets cancer. I don't have kids, but I'd want any daughter of mine to have it, even though I'd counsel her not to be sexually active until she gets much older.

Besides, how many of those good Christian girls are off having sex behind their parents' backs? Probably a lot of them.

I see this logic all the time among my collegemates. A fellow enviromentalist friend used the same "it sends a bad message" logic to argue that building nuclear power plants sends the message that we don't have to cut our consuption. :crazy:

These people understand teenagers so well!

I know when I was a teenager, the only thing keeping me from giving in to my evil desires was a fear of contracting pamphiloma virus. If not for that, I would've just given my boyfriends condoms and gone for it!!

:eyes:

If you look at their literature a little further, you'll see that the crux of their "abstinence only" campaign is that condoms--according to them--offer no protection from HPV. I've heard conflicting views--some have said that condoms offer some, but not complete protection--but the point is that they have a scary, icky thing they can beat kids over the head with.

Now what are they going to tell the kiddies? "Don't have sex, because I wouldn't get the vaccination that would protect you from HPV?" Maybe this will be a great topic of conversation at the "Purity Ball" or Viginity Ball or whatever.