|
|
 |
But the "no mandate" strategy feels like
a ploy. After all, every state, with the lone exception of Mississippi, allows
parents to opt out of vaccinating a child. "There has never been any vaccine
that has been mandated. But using that term generates a tremendous amount of
sympathy," explains Dr. Juan Carlos Felix of the University of Southern California,
who leads the National Cervical Cancer Coalition's medical advisory panel.
In forty-five states, a parent can simply cite personal, philosophical or religious
reasons for not vaccinating a child and still gain admission to public school.
In the remaining four states, a child can be exempt from vaccination if a parent
cites religious reasons.
|
For parents who don't
wish to inoculate their daughters against the primary cause of cervical cancer,
opting out is already possible. |
The new "no mandate" language is, perhaps,
a leap forward from the prevention-equals-promiscuity rhetoric of a few months ago. But for those who have
watched as seemingly minor objections — such as whether emergency contraception
would be abused by eleven year olds, a key argument mounted by the Right — stop public-health advancements in their tracks, wariness is the order of
the day. The true confirmation of the Right's professed willingness to welcome
the vaccine will be whether groups like the Family Research Council accept
that their concern over school mandates is unwarranted. It bears repeating: For parents who don't
wish to inoculate their daughters against the primary cause of cervical cancer,
opting out is already possible. (As for Mississippi's lack of a vaccine exemption,
let's synchronize our watches and see how fast one appears once the Religious
Right comes knocking.)
Meanwhile, leaders of conservative Christian organizations plead sincerity. They claim the shift in their position results from research and genuine reflection about the benefits of the vaccine. As
Dr. Gene Rudd of the Christian Medical Association explains, "I know a lot
of groups had questions earlier on, but they were going through that evolution,
trying to figure out what it was, and what their position was going to be. And
I just think the mandate is still in that little limbo because some of these
groups haven't worked their way through the thought process. I think, in the
end, they are going to say 'Hey, mandates with exemptions will solve the problem.'"
If indeed Dr. Rudd is correct, the HPV vaccine could spur another
breakthrough: it may cure a little of the malignancy that now characterizes this
culture war. "It would be very good news if these groups said mandates are okay," explains
Deborah Arrindell, vice president of health policy at the American Social Health
Association, an organization that leads education campaigns about HPV and the
new vaccine. "I am hoping they will join us. All people from all religious
perspectives can join together to get all people protected. If the issue is that
they are being mischaracterized in the press — and instead there is support
from all faith-based communities and political parties for the vaccine — that
would be good news."
|
A key appointee from the Religious Right will
help decide the future of the HPV vaccine. |
Proponents
of the HPV vaccine are, at this point, keeping their fingers crossed. They
must still surmount several hurdles even before they face mandate fights in state legislatures. First is the ACIP meeting
in late June, where a key appointee from the Religious Right will
help decide the future of the HPV vaccine. In 2002, Tommy Thompson, then
Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, asked Focus on
the Family for a list of candidates to appoint to key posts concerning sexual
health matters. Focus on the Family assigned the task to Reginald Finger,
its medical advisor. In 2003,
with the HPV vaccine on the committee's horizon, Finger was appointed
to the ACIP. He previewed the perspective he will bring to the
decisive June ACIP meeting in a quote given to The Hill a few months ago: "If people begin to market the vaccine or tout the
vaccine [so as to suggest] that this makes adolescent sex safer, then that would undermine the abstinence-only
message."
Generally, public-health experts, including Dr. Rudd at the
Christian Medical Association, believe that the ACIP will recommend the vaccine.
But as Bill Barker, a representative of Advocates for Youth, cautions, "[I was] very involved
with the emergency contraceptive, [and] it didn't seem like the Bush appointees were
going to have an impact then either. In fact, we were hearing from all our friends
and experts at the time, 'Don't worry about it. The FDA is going to do the right
thing.' So, there are definitely concerns. We don't want to get caught again thinking that everything is fine,
and put our advocacy efforts in the background. We want
to make sure we don't get this ripped away from us right at the end."
n°
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR: |
 |
Cristina Page is
author of How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America:
Freedom, Politics and the War on Sex.
|
©2006 Cristina Page and Nerve.com
|
|
|
|
