Huh. I never knew that my "virtue" resided in my vagina. Here I thought it had to do with kindness to others, intellectual honesty, a willingness to help other people out, etc. Guess not. Thanks for clearing that up, Jill! I guess if I shut my legs, I can go around being as nasty and bitch as I want, and still be "virtuous"!

I hate that shit.

I say that "virtous" young women should take a page from the New York Lotto's old ad campaign: "Hey, you never know."

I agree that we should make sure lower-income girls and girls of parents who may disagree with the HPV vaccine (for moral reasons about sexuality and such) should have easy access to the vaccine-but I have doubts about any mandatory medical treatment. Does anyone else have any misgivings about mandatory vaccination? I disagree with the current mandatory vaccines for children. Does anyone know about the long-term effects of the vaccine (other than possibly preventing HPV)?

As far as I'm aware, jessicapenn, every state allows parents to refuse to vaccinate their children for moral or religious reasons. So when all the antis gripe that making the vaccine a requirement for school entry infringes on their rights... that argument doesn't really hold up.

It is comments like Stanek's that really upset me. My best friend was a virgin until she married her absolutely wonderful husband. He had had sex before my friend, and she recently found out she had HPV.

How dare Stanek comment on a situation that ultimately she knows nothing about? How dare she judge these people and their virtuosity?

While I agree that the HPV vaccine should be made available to all girls, and that girls and parents whould be educated about the risks of HPV and the benefits of the vaccine (and even encouraged to get it,) I don't think it's right to make it mandatory. In fact, I think it's wrong. We don't yet know what possible side-effects could show up years from now. Many people (like me) feel that the risks of innoculations outweigh the benefits. People have different beliefs about western medicine, and no one should be forced to put something into their body if they don't want to. What's more, making the vaccination mandatory for girls makes HPV solely a woman's problem. It's another case of western medicine seeing the female body as unclean, diseased, and weak.

I agree that something needs to be done to ensure that lower-income women and girls can get the vaccine, but this is a problem of the US's inadequate healthcare, which needs to be fixed in its own right, because it's not only the HPV vaccine that lower-income and minority women are being denied, it's a lot of other things too! Women need to get pap smears for other reasons, so we need to make sure they are able to get them.

And, even though parents with moral or religous objections will be able to opt out, the girl herself will not be able to (am I right?)

While I agree that the HPV vaccine should be made available to all girls, and that girls and parents whould be educated about the risks of HPV and the benefits of the vaccine (and even encouraged to get it,) I don't think it's right to make it mandatory. In fact, I think it's wrong. We don't yet know what possible side-effects could show up years from now. Many people (like me) feel that the risks of innoculations outweigh the benefits. People have different beliefs about western medicine, and no one should be forced to put something into their body if they don't want to. What's more, making the vaccination mandatory for girls makes HPV solely a woman's problem. It's another case of western medicine seeing the female body as unclean, diseased, and weak.

I agree that something needs to be done to ensure that lower-income women and girls can get the vaccine, but this is a problem of the US's inadequate healthcare, which needs to be fixed in its own right, because it's not only the HPV vaccine that lower-income and minority women are being denied, it's a lot of other things too! Women need to get pap smears for other reasons, so we need to make sure they are able to get them.

And, even though parents with moral or religous objections will be able to opt out, the girl herself will not be able to (am I right?)

I'm sorry that my comment posted twice...computer issues. But, Ann, isn't it true that while the parents have a right to refuse vaccination, the child doesn't? It was true when I was growing up in the 90's and having to get vaccinated to go to school. I'm going to do a little research to find out what the current sitch is.

"And, even though parents with moral or religous objections will be able to opt out, the girl herself will not be able to (am I right?)"

That depends, I think, and it speaks more to the complete disempowerment of minors in the US than to anything specific to vaccines.

"It's another case of western medicine seeing the female body as unclean, diseased, and weak."

I disagree with this. I don't see anything about uncleanliness or weakness or disease--indeed, for a vaccine to be effective, the body in question has to be free of disease at the time of innoculation. What I think can be said is that as with birth control, women and girls are being made to take on a responsibility that should by rights belong to both sexes; as I understand it, this is largely because the consequences of HPV in girls and women can be far worse than in men (cervical cancer). Granted, men should get vaccinated so as to keep themselves disease-free and to protect the women in their lives, but given the givens, I'd rather assure my own protection.

This seems to me to be the perfect opportunity for progressives to use the kind of strategic naming (ie death tax for estate tax) that's always used against them. So let's hear it for asking conservatives why they're against the "cancer vaccine"?

Knicole -- I am completely with you. I see it as a bodily autonomy issue. I don't want the government being able to dictate even more than it already does what I can't do, or must do, with my body. Minors need to be able to elect out of such things of their own volition when it comes to mandatory things like that. Example: just saw on the news about a CA high school performing random, mandatory urine drug tests at its school. Talk about removing our rights.

I can't stand how Jill stigmatizes cervical cancer though. I noticed she claimed HPV was the only cause of cervical cancer (and obviously the only cause in her mind of getting HPV is being an immoral slut). Is it really, or is that like saying smoking is the only cause of lung cancer? Just honestly curious. Either way, no one should be shaming, stigmatizing, or blocking access to medical PREVENTION or to people who might need medical treatment if that prevention is unavailable to them.

I was born with an STD (hep B). My mother had it when she was pregnant and she was probably born with it as well, and she didn't know she had it until I was born. She was born in a country where over 5% of the population are carriers -- since it's more of a blood-based disease than an STD, it's mostly still transmitted at medical clinics or through acupuncture.

Neither she nor I would probably know we were carriers of hep B except that her OB/GYN probably did a little ethnic profiling around the time of my birth and requested the test.

A lot more than 5% of the US population has HPV. Even if the "virtue" argument worked, many people have STD's without breaking any ridiculous fundamentalist rules.

Knicole:

Certain vaccines are already mandatory for children entering school---so I don't really see how an HPV vaccine is any different. If this vaccine didn't have anything to do with a vagina, the majority of people wouldn't have a problem with it.

I do have one gripe though, why aren't boys vaccinated as well to prevent spreading the disease? A money issue perhaps?

I have discovered the perfect method for convincing Republicans to support mandatory HPV vaccination.

Ready for it? Ok, here it comes:

HPV is also linked to cancer of the PENIS.

http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/cancer/cupp1/

Put that on FoxNews Monday, and the vaccine will go mandatory on Tuesday guaranteed.

For a quick summary of HPV and penis cancer:

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9321&page=1#3whatcauses

First, it's absolutely disgusting that people would put so-called virtue above a girl's/woman's life.

But the thing that really gets me about some of this talk, even from people who want their children to get the vaccine, is the age thing. I heard many people on the radio this morning saying 9 is too early, should wait for 12 at least, because of TEH SEX thing. First, you don't have to tell your child every detail about the vaccine.

Also, have none of these people ever heard of rape or molestation??

In fact, I think it's wrong. We don't yet know what possible side-effects could show up years from now. Many people (like me) feel that the risks of innoculations outweigh the benefits.

You can check the results for yourself. In the US, people like you are marginalized. In the UK, they've mounted a successful scare campaign against the MMR vaccine. As a result of that, the UK has higher rates of measles and mumps than the US, which have increased just as vaccination rates fell. Whereas in the US people who don't get vaccinated benefit from herd immunity, in the UK they no longer do.

I do have one gripe though, why aren't boys vaccinated as well to prevent spreading the disease? A money issue perhaps?

If I'm not mistaken, the vaccine hasn't been proven safe for boys yet. The American vaccination standard is to immunize everyone, rather than just the most vulnerable population.

Wow, I had no idea I was an abortion survivor (as Jill claims anyone under the age of 34 is).

I mean, I wasn't aware there weren't just abortion clinics, but actual roming abortion providers who strike randomly at women who want their babies, like my mom did. Dodged a bullet, didn't I!

I'm an abortion baby. I was born only because my mom had an abortion shortly before she got pregnant with me. The pregnancy was unwanted and she didn't want a child, so she aborted; then she decided she wanted one after all, so she conceived again and carried to term.

HPV is not the only cause of cervical cancer, although it is the most common cause of it. My grandmother got cervical cancer at the age of 75, her doctor thought it was because she took DES while she was pregnant with my 2 aunts. DES is not used anymore, but just to show, HPV is not the only cause of cervical cancer.

"trans-fats as a group of terrorist cells."

Aaaaaaaaaarrrgh!
Was I the first to notice this?
Fats, beit trans or anything else, are not cells, they're frakking molecules!
What's the difference? Hmmm to begin with, cells are at least 1000 times bigger, but then, who cares? Apparently not Norris.
The ad should read:"What does CHuck Norris write? Anything he wants"
Correctness is clearly optional.

I think the most foolish way to prove your husband's virtue by risking cancer. Hubby lied, dump him, and enjoy your LEEP.

I especially enjoyed Jill's pictures of aborted fetuses next to the argument she was attempting to make. If you can't beat 'em, shock 'em. I honestly don't understand how these people claim to know God's love, but spend so much time hating. Hope it's worth it.

Cervical cancer has many risk factors (including the "usual suspects" for cancer of smoking and poor diet), but most studies have shown that nearly all women who get cervical cancer had HPV first. I think the numbers are around 90-95% of cervical cancer being caused by HPV. HPV has also been linked to vaginal cancer, some throat cancers, penile cancer, and a few others I can't remember off the top of my head. Also, other posters are right - they haven't yet proven that the vaccine is safe for males, or that it works. But they do anticipate that it will work in the same way, and there are studies happening right now. They are also studying the effectiveness in women older than 26 (the current recommended age range is 9-26). I think they initially designed the studies that way because younger women are less likely to have been exposed to HPV already. However, cancer is only caused by a few strains of HPV, and even if you have the virus, if you don't already have one of those particular strains, the vaccine may still be effective in prevention. Fingers crossed!

Texas has made the vaccine required for all fifth grade girls. i have never been so excited to be a Texan!

Sorry if this is off topic I just needed to share!