Texas Governer Rick "Goodhair" Perry, viewed generally as a lightweight twit just made up for a lot of the bad things he's done. On Friday he did what no Democratic governor has yet done and made the HPV vaccine mandatory for girls in Texas schools.
Perry bypased the Texas ledge, which isn't in session right now anyway, and used an executive order to not only make the vaccine mandatory, but also to pay for the vaccine for any girl who is either uninsured or who's insurance does not cover vaccines.
His order was limited to girls, despite the fact that vaccinating boys is also beneficial, but even so its a good thing.
If Rick Perry can do it, so can Democratic governors. We need the HPV vaccine made mandatory in every state. Even more importantly we need the government to pay for it if the parents can't. The HPV vaccine is expensive, we cannot allow cervical cancer to become a disease of the poor.
Every day that goes by twelve women die from cervical cancer in the United States. A program of universal HPV vaccination will not help women already exposed, but it will mean that women not yet exposed are safe.
This issue is a Democratic issue. It is a feminist issue. It is a humanitarian issue. Universal vaccination is, simply and plainly, the right thing to do.
For those who insist on thinking in Machivellian terms, mandating HPV vaccination is a winning move. The only people opposing the HPV vaccine are wackjobs who think that sexually active women should be punished. Their opposition to the vaccination alienates them to the majority of the American people. Since they are universally Republican, their opposition helps paint the entire Republican party as vile thugs.
Get on the ball. Write your governor now. I never thought I'd say it, but tell them to follow Texas' example. Manditory HPV vaccination, paid for by the state, NOW!