DENVER-
A state lawmaker has backed off her proposal to require girls entering sixth grade to be vaccinated against cervical cancer.
Realizing that her proposal (Senate Bill 80) was in trouble, Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora, asked a Senate panel Friday to instead back a watered-down version that would only require doctors tell parents about the shots. But even the weaker version fell short, with the Senate Appropriations Committee deadlocking on a 5-5 vote, meaning the bill does not move on to the full Senate.
A vote to permanently kill the bill also ended in a tie vote. Williams said she may make another attempt to win Senate passage or might try to fold the information-only approach into another cervical cancer bill moving through the House. That measure would require all health insurance companies to pay for shots for their patients.
“I think the state and the people I’ve heard from are ready for and only want information at this point,” Williams said.
The vaccine prevents infections from two strains of the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus, or HPV, which causes cervical cancer. Last year, federal officials recommended that girls be vaccinated at 11 or 12, before they become sexually active.
Williams’ original bill would have required that girls show schools proof that they either had been vaccinated or that their parents rejected the offer. Williams said the main objections she heard is that the vaccine is too new and that’s in not appropriate to give it to such young girls.
So far, the only HPV vaccine available is made by Merck & Co., which had earlier lobbied in Colorado and other states to pass bills requiring vaccinations. Some lawmakers had objected to the earlier version because it looked like the state was acting as the company’s “marketing arm”. Merck halted its lobbying last month under pressure from parents and medical groups.
Friday’s vote was the second time the committee deadlocked on Williams’ proposals. Sen. Stephanie Takis, D-Aurora, voted with Republicans against both versions because she said doctors should already be telling their patients about the vaccine. She also said she didn’t think the state should have to pay for brochures to educate people about the vaccine.
Takis said she opposed the earlier version of the bill because schools shouldn’t be involved in having to check the vaccinations.
Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Fort Collins, also voted against the measure because he said doctors already have a responsibility to educate their patients about their health. Because the virus isn’t spread through casual contact, Johnson said there’s no reason for the government to require doctors to talk about it.
Republican Sen. Nancy Spence, who had been trying to build support for the bill with some changes, said she thinks Merck’s involvement may have hurt the bill’s chances.
“They packed up and left town but the memory is still out there from when it was first introduced,” she said.
Merck spokesman Raymond Kerins said the company backed out of lobbying to prevent attention being diverted away from the discussion about women’s health and preventing cervical cancer. He said the company will continue to provide information to anyone, including lawmakers, who ask about the vaccine as well as run television commercials for the vaccine.
“What we won’t do is step out and ask them to mandate that this be required for school,” Kerins said.
