Who could possibly be against sparing children from cancer?
A bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Mike May and Democratic Sen. Suzanne Williams would force parents of girls 12 and older to either vaccinate their daughters with a new drug that purports to stop most cervical cancer or “opt out.”
Sounds good, right?
Not really.
To begin with, human papilloma virus is spread by sexual intercourse. It is not an otherwise contagious disease. So what justification does government have inserting itself into this important parent-doctor decision? (It’s a question I wish the ACLU would ask someone.)
Sure, it’s difficult to buy the social conservative argument that the HPV vaccine will encourage promiscuity in children. But I was a little surprised to read that the American College of Pediatricians says “all potential side effects are not yet known” about the HPV vaccine.
If that’s true, why are Colorado legislators ready to pump this vaccine into our teenage daughters?
May, like other proponents of the bill, claims the bill is not intended to force parents to vaccinate, but rather, it “mandates one thing: providing the information. Other than that, it’s parental choice.”
That statement is misleading. Parents already have information and the choice. This bill would coerce parents into reporting to government on whether they’ve done so.
Not only is this bill an invasion of privacy and an implicit endorsement of the vaccine, the law has the potential to encourage many parents to give the vaccine to their children without educating themselves properly beforehand.
After all, shouldn’t parents “opt in” instead of being forced to “opt out”? Trust me, if in 10 years we learn that the HPV vaccine causes toe cancer, not a single lawmaker will be held responsible.
That’s your job.
And it’s a tough one. Especially when lawmakers use alarmism to shock parents. When May was pressed on this bill, for instance, he made the assertion that “the penalty for premarital sex should not be cervical cancer.”
Obviously. But that’s a red herring because no one of note has ever said otherwise.
The truth is that premarital sexual activity is practiced by millions (I suspect even more frequently than post-marital sex), and the chance of developing cervical cancer is minuscule.
There are fewer than 4,000 deaths due to cervical cancer in the United States each year. This vaccine purports to stop 70 percent of cases. Imagine the small fraction of that number that are children in the 12- to 15-year-old range.
Everyone hopes that the HPV vaccine is all it’s cracked up to be. But parents should remain vigilant.
That’s why it’s important for schools to provide relevant information concerning the HPV vaccine. It’s also vital that government supply the vaccine to families who can’t afford it.
That doesn’t mean we have to pass laws force-feeding parents a new drug every time a pharmaceutical company comes up with a new miracle cure.
How does May, a Republican, justify sponsoring such an intrusion?
“We thought that this would be coming. So we asked ourselves: As this rolls through, how can we as a minority party be part of the process?” May explains. “It’s a difficult needle to thread. Obviously, we are entering new territory. Typically we deal with vaccines that are for more traditional communicable disease. Where does government have a role, and where do they not?”
No one is sure if by “we” May meant Republicans or those timid bureaucrats who pine to be “part of the process” instead of standing up for parental rights.
But I am sure of one thing: When my daughters come of age for this vaccine, my wife and I will sit down with our family pediatrician and make a choice – without Mike May or Suzanne Williams in attendance.
And the state of Colorado will never be informed about our decision.
David Harsanyi’s column appears Monday and Thursday. He can be reached at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
