Would some DUers feel different about the mandatory HPV vaccination if it wasn't Rick Perry's idea?

[Hippo_Tron]

I get the feeling that has a lot to do with it.

[SaveElmer]

1. In what way?

I agree with Perry on this one...

[Hippo_Tron]

6. I do too

But many here don't, arguing that Merck is pushing this on us just to make a profit. I'm sure someone profited big time when Measles and Polio vaccines came out, but that doesn't mean they are bad.

[SaveElmer]

7. Yeah I agree...it is a strawman argument...

No drug of this magnitude gets developed by anyone but big pharma...

There is alot to criticize about bug Pharma, but from what I have read about this particular drug it seems as though it has the potential to all but wipe out cervical cancer...

Frankly, too many fundie parents more concerned about whether their kid is gonna have sex or not than with their health...it should be required for the kids' sake...IMO...

[DemBones DemBones]

16. No, it's an argument advanced by those of us who

are aware of Big Pharm's obscene profit margins and somewhat cavalier attitude about patient safety. (The FDA is bad, too, will approve almost any drug.)

It's a myth that fundamentalists are more concerned about their kids having sex than about their health. I taught biology in three small towns in the Bible Belt, always taught about human reproduction and included detailed contraception and AIDS information, and never had a single complaint from a parent.

One year, I was teaching in a middle school and another teacher and I proposed a sex ed program to the principal. He approved it, though he joked with us that he'd be the one who'd be tarred and feathered. Now this was an area where most families were members of Pentecostal churches or sects (including a snake handling sect) or some variety of Baptist church, usually more conservative than most Southern Baptist churches. There were kids who were not allowed to go to the movies because Jesus might come while they were at the movies and they'd be "left behind" (although this was before the books came out.)

But not one parent complained that we were doing this and some made a point of telling the principal they were glad it was being done. Only one kid's parents refused to allow him to participate.

[Bridget Burke]

27. The polio vaccines were funded by The March of Dimes.

Which was funded by the people of the USA.

http://www.marchofdimes.com/789_821.asp

In recent news: "NCI funds to be cut." As taxpayers, we support scientific & medical research--but not nearly enough. Shrub has better uses for our money! We should not be so dependant upon pharmaceutical companies for research.

That said, even at DU I've seen ignorance & fear about vaccines in general. As a Texan, I'm sure that Perry made this proposal for the worst reasons. But the results might be good.

[pnwmom]

2. I had to remind myself who Rick Perry is.

So no, the answer is no.

I'm very cautious about using any drug in its first few years on the open market. And I feel the same way about vaccines.

[Justitia]

3. Yeah, they'd be screaming that the TX Repub Party was trying to stop it (which they are).

Perry's own party has the long knives out for him over this one.
On the local Houston news tonight the really smarmy Harris County Head Cockroach is slamming him about it.
The repub state legislators want him to rescind the executive order.

I sure hope Perry's spaghetti spine doesn't knuckle under from the pressure.

[snowbear]

4. It may soon be mandatory in 12 other states soon.

The legislature in Texas is just the first one who's approved it so far..

By summer, it could be law in countless states..

[Lisa0825]

5. You betcha!

There was a lot of bitching back when fundies were sounding the alarm about how the vaccine would promote promiscuity, though I didn't compare posts to see if anyone actually changed teams. I do believe a lot of the suspicion is due to Perry's involvement though. If Bell had won and put this forward, I think he'd be hailed as a champion of women's health.

[tomp]

8. there is a very strong anti-vaccine movement.

some people just don't want them and for a variety of reasons, including that they may not work and that they may cause other problems, i.e., serious side effects.

i want absoultely no mandatory vaccines and it's got nothing to do with perry.

p.s.: i'm a nurse, and half of the staff on my unit refused free flu vaccines, even with SERIOUS administration pressure.

[Art_from_Ark]

9. A new drug, vigorously promoted by a profit-motivated company

and a governor who's known more for his hair than his brains, should at least set off a few alarms.

That's not to say that the vaccine isn't worthwhile. However, this isn't a national health crisis like polio or smallpox was, and the jury still appears to be out on long-tern side effects.

[Contrary1]

10. I wonder how much testing has been done.

Having been a "guinea pig" for diagnostic techniques and a cancer drug that
caused major side effects, that is my big concern here. It can take many
years for problems to show up.

Also, if it is going to be mandatory in so many states, I think the patent
should be revoked.

[soswolf]

24. Agreed...if it's mandatory, take the patent away n/t

[Fresh_Start]

12. agree totally

people need to decide whether the risks/rewards are right for them. And for most of these children waiting a few years to see what the fallout from the vaccine is before undertaking it would be the right thing to do.

[Mojorabbit]

17. I'm a retired nurse

and I have seen too many drug callbacks due to unforseen side effects. I think it is too early to make it mandatory for that reason.

[mainegreen]

26. The vaccine schedule just seems insane to me.

How many vaccines should my child get in the first six months?!?! How many of these are new vaccines?!

I don't think so.

[Fresh_Start]

11. why would we?

The other mandatory vaccines are for diseases which are transmitted during casual contact. A child could literally infect an entire classroom.

This is should available and upto the parents or girl to decide.

[KarenS]

13. That's not why I'm against it,,,,

I'm from the generation that they pushed to take HRT. Doctors were amazed that I didn't want it. The TeeVee ads made said anyone who didn't take it was 'in denial'. Then they discovered that HRT and breast cancer had a link.

I do not trust that all the testing has been done or that the testing they did was for a long enough period of time.

Make it available to those that want it.

[Contrary1]

15. Yep...

They go overboard to make us believe we are "wrong" with our choices. After the birth
of my second child, I decided against breast feeding, based on painful experiences
trying with my first born. (I'm no weenie, but the pain was too much for me.)

I refused the shot to dry up my milk, and the doctor and nurses went ballistic. I had
read that preliminary studies had shown this particular drug they used may have been
related to an increase in the chances of developing breast cancer. I don't know if it
was ever proven or not, but I was having none of it.

They must have sent in a half dozen people to "reason" with me. Nineteen years later
I was diagnosed with BC. I sometimes wonder if it might have been even worse had I
changed my mind.

Bottom line...this is my body. I should make the decisions. Not the doctors, not the
drug companies, and most certainly not the government.

[DemBones DemBones]

14. No. I outlined my objections in the other thread. nt

[not_a_robot]

18. I wonder

How hard it's being sold to DUers by the run of the mill pr drones, as it seems every corporation employs them to do their deception for them these days.

[DemBones DemBones]

19. Now there's an interesting angle I hadn't even considered.

And I'll say again here, Merck is making the only HPV vaccine I've heard of and Merck is facing two major class action lawsuits which will cost them a lot so they need a moneymaker.

[Q]

20. This is...

...one of the reasons I've stopped posting very much on DU or any other political board.

The word 'mandatory' is the antithesis of democracy.

The answers on this and other threads on this issue shows just how 'conservative' the Democratic party has become...or at least those who pose as Democrats online.

I'm not shocked as much as saddened that so many people believe that it's okay for any government to force drugs on a supposedly free people. This is treating people like cattle or mindless drones.

A free society should never allow laws to pass that takes away one more right of the individual.

[Eurobabe]

21. No, it's the mandatory nature of the request

and the lack of long-term testing and knowing what side effects may emerge down the road. That's what bugs me.

[Skittles]

22. f*** YES it has a lot to do with it

the fact is we know repukes don't give a DAMN about teenage girls so we have to wonder what their f***ing motives are

[BlueGirlRedState]

23. As a mom to 9 and 7 year old girls

I am eager to learn more about the vaccine, and most likely, I'll opt to have my girls vaccinated. But to become mandatory just bothers me. It has nothing to do with Gov. Good Hair -- I'll even give him the benefit of the doubt that he's altrusic in his efforts and not just because of his campaign contributions from big pharma or his friends the lobbyists. But this is a family decision that I'll discuss with my gyn and the girls' pediatrician, not with the governor.

I do applaud Merck for developing the vaccine -- I sure hope it works as they say -- and please, please can they work on ovarian cancer? I have a good friend with OvCa stage IV.

[soswolf]

25. I think it was more Merck's idea than Perry's n/t

[windbreeze]

28. NO....it has to do with insufficient testing of subjects

the age (9-12) they want to use it on...and remembering that Merck was responsible for Vioxx....which MY doctor gave to me, and I refused to take...thank god...
wb

[underpants]

29. I don't know what in the hell you are talking about

This whole vaccine bullshit controversy is the result of a bunch of pigheaded biblethumpers totally overthinking this.

[alfredo]

30. I applauded it until I found out more about what was behind

the decision.

[noonwitch]

31. No-I think that his heart is in the right place, but it's overstepping parental authority

Perry and other politicians who support a mandatory vaccine want to prevent women from suffering, I don't doubt that. I just don't think it's a decision for the government to make, it's one for parents.

If I had a 12 year old girl, I'd get her vaccinated. I don't need to be told to do it by big bro.

[mhatrw]

32. PLEASE READ THIS POST IF YOU ARE AT ALL INFORMED ON THIS ISSUE!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=3098041