Governor (Goodhair) Perry's recent order requiring the vaccination of sixth-grade girls against the human papillomavirus is facing stern and abstinent opposition:
Texas lawmakers are fighting to block the governor's order requiring that sixth-grade girls be vaccinated against the virus that causes cervical cancer, with the House giving final approval to a bill to make the shots strictly voluntary.
Gov. Rick Perry's executive order has inflamed conservatives who say it contradicts Texas' abstinence-only sexual education policies and intrudes into family lives. Some critics also have questioned whether the vaccine has been proven safe.
The House voted 118-23 on Wednesday to approve a bill that would keep the vaccine off the list of required shots for school attendance. The measure now heads to the state Senate, where more than half the members are co-sponsoring an identical bill.
The 118 votes for the bill Wednesday would be more than enough to override a veto by the governor.
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The governor's office has estimated that only 25 percent of young women in Texas would get the vaccine if it is not mandatory.
This means that 75% of young women in Texas would not be vaccinated. Does the legislature really think that three fourths of all young women in Texas will stay abstinent until marriage and that they will all marry young men who have never had sex and therefore can't be carriers of the virus? Or is it just that premarital sex is worse than dying of cancer?