House eyes vaccines for sexually-transmitted virus
JEFFERSON CITY – Sixth grade girls in Missouri will have to be vaccinated against the sexually-transmitted human papilloma virus (HPV) if proposed legislation is passed during the current legislative session.
House Bill 802 (HB802) was introduced by Democratic Reps. Sam Page, Creve Coeur; Pat Yaeger, St. Louis; and Rachel Storch, St. Louis; along with Terry Young, Jene’ Lowe, Mike Talboy and Jason Holsman of Kansas City.
It would require schools to inform parents of the connection between HPV and cervical cancer and to make sure that their daughters have been vaccinated before they enter the sixth grade.
Church and private schools would not be exempted.
The vaccination, which was developed by Merck & Co., Inc. Pharmaceuticals, does not claim to be effective against all 30 HVP strains. It does appear to be effective against two strains that are responsible for about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases.
According to the American Cancer Society, some 11,150 new cases of cervical cancer will be diagnosed in 2007 and some 3,670 women will die of the disease. By comparison, there will be 178,480 new cases of breast cancer during the year with 40,460 breast cancer deaths.
“Cervical cancer is a terrible thing, but it’s not an epidemic,” said Rep. Brian Baker, R-Belton. “It’s not like polio or some of these other shots you take. It’s a health choice. If you will behave in a responsible way, you don’t have to worry about that.”
Baker is an associate pastor of Heartland Family Ministries at Belton, headmaster of Heartland High School and Academy, and a father.
“I have a problem with giving a shot to a fourth to sixth grade daughter and saying, ‘This is in case you have unprotected sex as a teenager before you get married. That way, if you do it, you won’t get hurt.’”
Baker takes issue with the mandatory tones of the bill.
“It should be a parental decision and the Legislature should not be mandating it. I would think the pro-choice party would want to give people choices,” he said.
The legislation would allow parents to opt out for only two reasons – religious or medical. There are no provisions for non-religious parents who don’t want their children taking the drug.
Rep. Doug Ervin, a deacon at First Baptist Church, Kearney, and father of three young daughters, is also opposed to the House bill.
“We’re talking about injecting substances into children,” he said. “Should the state make those decisions or should parents?
“If it’s a sexually-transmitted disease, why would they have to have it to go to school?”
Kerry Messer, lobbyist for the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) Christian Life Commission, said the effort to require the vaccine is not only being pushed by the manufacturer but is also part of a social agenda. It has become a national movement in state legislatures across the country.
Two Democratic senators, Jolie Justus of Kansas City and Joan Bray of St. Louis, have filed a companion bill in the Missouri Senate, SB 514, which seeks to accomplish the same goals as the House bill.
Both pieces of legislation would require increased education and record keeping by the schools or school districts as well as coverage by insurance providers.