Associated Press
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Gov. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) have helped make the HPV vaccine needlessly controversial.
Over the last year or so, some prominent far-right officials, most notably Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), have helped make the HPV vaccine a national political issue. With that in mind, today's news deserves some broader attention.
For those looking for a refresher, the human papillomavirus increases a woman's chances of developing cervical cancer. For several years, there's been an FDA-approved vaccine available that immunizes against HPV infection. But as the Republican Party has become more radicalized, the vaccine has been caught up in a culture war -- many conservatives believe the vaccine encourages minors to have sex.
It doesn't (thanks to my colleague Will Femia for the heads-up).
Since public health officials began recommending in 2006 that young women be routinely vaccinated against HPV, many parents have hesitated over fears that doing so might give their children license to have sex. But research published on Monday in the journal Pediatrics may help ease those fears.
Looking at a sample of nearly 1,400 girls, the researchers found no evidence that those who were vaccinated beginning around age 11 went on to engage in more sexual activity than girls who were not vaccinated.
"We're hopeful that once physicians see this, it will give them evidence that they can give to parents," said Robert A. Bednarczyk, the lead author of the report and a clinical investigator with the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research Southeast, in Atlanta. "Hopefully when parents see this, it'll be reassuring to them and we can start to overcome this barrier."
The politics surrounding the HPV vaccine took a turn towards the ridiculous a year ago, when Bachmann, at the time an almost-credible presidential candidate, went after Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) for giving the vaccine to girls in his state. The right-wing lawmaker claimed that the HPV vaccine can lead to mental retardation -- a claim with no foundation in reality -- and Perry ended up apologizing for one of his only progressive acts in office.
The story took another turn in June when South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) vetoed an HPV vaccine bill approved by lawmakers from her own party, even though the bill made it easy for parents to opt their kids out.
Chances are, this newly-published research won't change conservative politicians' minds, but if it helps with public education, the news may hopefully save lives.
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It won't. "Research" implies 'Facts' which are irrelevant in the current Republican mindset.
Nice try, though, and good news for the rest of us.
if it's scientific and healthy , We're against it
If it stunts a young girl's normal sexual development, we're for it.
Facts which contradict Republican narratives could only have been manufactured by a liberal scientific conspiracy anyway...
Clearly this study was funded by vaccine companies who serve to profit from public dissemination of an unnecessary and dangerous medicine. And Satan. Let's not forget Satan.
That depends a lot on whether some body parts' development are stunted, Friend Coffee.
Why are Republican women all idiots?
Duhhh... they're Republicans!
Good one! There are so many of them too, can't blame it on the HPV vaccine!
None of the "facts" you cite are written in "the Bible", therefore they don't exist! And I'm going to put my fingers in my ears until you take back what you said!! Lalalalala
More like just a lot of retroactive reasoning will take place (like with the Libya issue). When a girl goes out and has sex, if she so happened to be vaccinated, that will be all the evidence needed to assert that it does give underage females a license to have sex.
Remember science is good when it supports my conclusions; it's only bad when it supports my opponent
The whole 'license' thing is just bizarre. It's not as if teenagers really need any encouragement. And why are these people only concerned about license for sex? Why not get into a froth over the possibility of polio vaccine giving kids license to run marathons?
This is really sad and I am glad you keep bringing it up. The HPV Vaccination can potentiality save lives and its sad that people like Bachman who is total idiot and paranoid person had demonize it. That woman is so paranoid she thinks everyone is out to get her including the media. I guess that happens when you go to Oral Roberts. Oral Roberts for anyone who don't know is total whack job. He makes bad Christians look like saints becomes he embezzled money from Americans when he told them that God would kill him if he didn't raised millions of dollars. The date for his death came and went and he still haven't raised the money. and he became known as a fraud. That's Bachman's problem. People like that corrupt your mind and your thinking. It's sad that she had to attack the HPV vaccine. When its good could be beneficial to millions.
Nikki Haley is just as big an idiot as Bachmann.
Sounds like a nomination to put Haley on the intelligence committee as well...
Looking at a sample of nearly 1,400 girls, the researchers found no evidence that those who were vaccinated beginning around age 11 went on to engage in more sexual activity than girls who were not vaccinated.
So ends my secret plan to get a little more action between the sheets.
The responsible tend to be responsible in all areas. When my dog gets a rabies shot he doesn't suddenly go out and get bitten on purpose, just because he's "protected." The injection is simply a safety measure, not a comment on behavior.
Oh, for crying out loud.
People who even think about consequences when making sexual decisions (that's a small minority altogether, and an even smaller minority among teens) worry much more (in rough order) about:
By the time a girl even starts to worry about cervical cancer twenty years later, she's already either taken the chance or turned it down for other reasons.
I am 19 years old and I have thought about cervical cancer since I was 16 because my mother is a survivor. I am thankful that the state of California let me get the shot for free and is providing me with contraceptives. All young women should know about the things that could happen to their bodies and what they can do to help prevent such things. We need to teach teens more about these things. It shows that even if you don't speak about these things will still lead to pregnancy. Lets just inform the teens, no matter what they will have sex if they choose.
Unfortunately, there are too many adults who believe that teenagers can be made safe by withholding information. Let's call it prophylactic ignorance (otherwise known as 'abstinence-only education').
I remember when Bachmann was campaigning in Iowa.She told a story of a woman coming up to her and telling her that her daughter was born mentally challenged, because at one time she had the HPV vaccine .That woman had to have been Bachmann's mother.
There are a couple of reasons that conservative people keep trying to make this an issue. It sets off all sorts of dog whistles for the things their base already believe and it reasures them that the represntative is speaaking their language.
First they can use it to infer how "Liberal" government is corrupting our familie moral values
second they get to use it as a pry bar against science at large. The idea being that if this is responsible for "Moral Decay" then what else might science be corrupting
third it offers a conveniently and over simplistic justification for points one and two being that if morals weren't in decay we wouldn't need this vaccine.
and what drives people to this level of delusional thinking. An absolutely petrified Victorian belief that anything that even mentions the idea of sex must be immoral.
Just imagine being the daughter of such a one who is squalling over a shot that could darn well turn you into a slut.
These are the same idiots that use "Plan B" and RU486 synonymously, are convinced that all stem cells come from the destruction of an embryo, think the earth is less than 9,000 years old, and don't believe in man's affect on the climate. "Science" is terrifying to them. I would like to say, "you know what? It's natural selection--they don't want their kids to get it, they can pray the sex away and hope it works." Unfortunately, these idiots were voted into office by other idiots, and the funding for people who want it but can't afford it can/will be affected.
It gets worse for HPV. The prevalence of oral HPV is about 7% overall, but as high as 20% for men in some demographic groups. Oral HPV is the cause of oral squamous cell carcinoma, a cancer that is increasing in incidence: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22282321
And, get this: In the 2009-2010 NHANES, those who had the HPV vaccination, NONE had oral HPV infections. The HPV vaccination is not only protective against cervical cancer but oral cancer, too.
Yeah, I expect in the next five years or so, there will be sufficient evidence to recommend that everyone, not just girls, be vaccinated.
CDC already recommends it for males and females: www.cdc.gov/hpv/vaccine.html
MechTech - Here in MA that is already the case, and fortunately most health insurance covers the vaccine for males as well. My son - 17 has already started his round of shots. It is the only responsable thing to do.
Thank you for the updates, withay and Mark. That's very good to hear.
When women who can't get ahead on their own ( republicans) there backing comes from men who have ideals that women should be home making babies and keep their mouths shut.these women are just there to help the republican agenda to bring women back to the 50's and then they get a big pay off!!!!
They should just go back to worrying about whether their girls will have sex with other girls.
Girl on Girl sex got me thinking .... Damn this free associating mind ....
If we polled "sex workers" about their clientèle and those on particular web sites ....
Do you think we would find an inordinate number of those into B&D and SM are Republicans?
.
Sex workers or poll workers...?
There is ample anecdotal evidence that a high percentage of Bondage & S&M practitioners are in the Religious and Legal professions.
Don't you know everything leads to more sex?
Don't you know If sex is involved in any form nothing else matters?
It really gets me that when something makes a Republican afraid or even uncomfortable Everyone else has to go without and suffer.
How can someone be against something that prevents premature deaths, and those deaths being long and suffering?
I don't get it.
.
This is typical of the conservative party. It's ok to cover testosterone replacement (calling it an illness) but they won't cover something to help save a womans life.
They reject reality and substitute their own.
Doesn't it say something for the Republican nominee if this nut case Bachmann was in the same pool of candidates for the nut job party? They settled for Twit because he was the one who had the most contributed funds... each of the others, either left the campaign because of lack of funds, brains, or substance. So, Twit is no prize.
The only mentally retarded in this case are the Tea Baggers and the right wing who oppose the vaccine program. Don't they realize that they are putting their ownsons and daughters at risk?
These two women should be impaled for this horseshet (on their "lady" parts).. Tea Bangers is more like it, check out the teen pregnancy data:
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/08/03/634761/mississippi-abstinence-only-sex-ed/
Republicans vehemently oppose any thing that might been seen as making sex outside of a marruige license easier
Condoms
Birthcontrol
Abortions
The so called right to life movement is not about the unborn. it is about fornicators and punishing the for their actions.
Michelle is an idiot! FACT: 70% of Americans have HPV - So unless you are a virgin who plans to marry a virgin or you get this vaccine when you are young enough then you will most likely get it in your lifetime. 30 women every single day are diagnosed with Cervical cancer most of which come from HPV. So there is a real reason to give the vaccine to every teen in US. To not means your head is stuck in the sand.
WHY does anyone in America still take Michele Bachmann seriously?
nm
I'm astonished by their unbieveable ignorance
The Vaccine prevents Cervical Cancer. Which, in the opinion of way too many Right Wing Fundamentalists is the Punishment that every Woman inherits from EVE because of her fondness for Apple Pie.
My daughter got this shot. At the time, I didn't even tell her it was related to sex. I just said it protected against one kind of cancer. Now that she is 18, she understands that she had the vaccine and how it protects, but at the time, all she needed to know was that she was getting a shot along with her other shots for school. It would not even enter an 11-year-old kid's head that the shot made it okay to have sex unless someone made a big deal about it.
I wish they had had this vaccine when I was in my teens. After many years of biopsies and procedures (having had moderate to severe dysplasia of the cervix), at 47 I have been HPV free for 6 years. And while cervical cancer can be the most treatable cancer, the idea of reducing the threat is worth a "shot."
Women should stay barefoot and pregnant! Give them shoes and they will walk the streets, give them a childless life and they will get a job rather than stay home. Want proof? Before women got shoes they stayed away from the voting booth but once shod they began protesting--in the streets--for voting rights. Now they make up a huge section of the workforce. Heck even mothers are holding down paying jobs now. Evil just plain evil.