Under Scrutiny, Perry Walks Back HPV Decision

Source: Texas Tribune

Updated Monday, 2 p.m. CST: Perry spoke to Des Moines-based WHO radio and was asked about his HPV executive order: “That particular issue is one that I readily stand up and say I made a mistake on. I listened to the legislature, they said that was not going to occur, and I agreed with their decision. I don’t always get it right, but I darn sure listen.”

Original story: For years, Gov. Rick Perry has taken flak for his 2007 attempt to require girls to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus, the most commonly sexually transmitted disease and the principal cause of cervical cancer. At the risk of angering fellow conservatives, Perry has always insisted he did the right thing.

That unapologetic approach changed this weekend.

A few hours after unveiling his campaign for president, Perry began walking back from one of the most controversial decisions of his more-than-10-year reign as Texas governor. Speaking to voters at a backyard party in New Hampshire, Perry said he was ill-informed when he issued his executive order, in February 2007, mandating the HPV vaccine for all girls entering sixth grade, unless their parents completed a conscientious-objection affidavit form. The vaccine, Merck & Co.’s Gardasil, would have protected against the forms of HPV that cause about 70 percent of all cervical cancer, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.

Read more: http://www.texastribune.org/texas-people/rick-perry/facing-new-scrutiny-perry-walks-back-hpv-decision/

It's the fundies he's trying to placate here. His original decision to require the HPV immunization was correct. It will save a lot of lives.

The fundies are against anything having to do with sex, especially involving women and girls. In the fundie mind, giving this inoculation is tantamount to "endorsing five year old girls to have wanton lascivious sex" or some such nonsense.

So this "walk back" is really his way of begging forgiveness from the fundie base.

for that one unforgivable step alone.

What B S! Makes me want to :puke: What else wasn't he informed about?

I wonder how many other things he'll retract while in the primary and then how many more he'll retract in the general. Looks like he might out flop Mittens.

that Perry MANDATED the purchase of a private product? I thought that was unconstitutional?

Thinks Americans are stoooopid.

then they clearly are stupid.

NIH studies show near-100% effectiveness of vaccine in preventing transmission of HPV strains responsible for 70% of cervical cancers.

It seems (to me) that requiring an inexpensive yet potentially life-saving vaccine is a good thing.

Him going back on this is wrong.

Or am I missing something?

The left has more than its share of anti-science nutters who are convinced that mandatory vaccination is a plot by Big Pharma™ to sap and impurify our precious bodily fluids and give children autism. (And right-wing Jesus-humpers are opposed to things like the HPV vaccine because "it encourages children to have sex!")

If you're filled with fear, it's a negative thing. Plain and simple. We could save billions of dollars and thousands of lives with this simple measure. It worked to eradicate so many diseases in the past. Mandating inoculations is a GOOD thing if they're proven safe.