As Rick Perry has started his campaign, the many dramas of his tenure as governor in my state have been replayed in my mind. In fact, my father and I have been saying things to each other like: "I forgot he did that." I guess that speaks to the sad fact that the governor has been in office so long. So the HPV controversy that reared its head in the last debate (NBC Nightly News has led tonight's newscast with a story about the virus as I write this) brought back the year of 2007 when my daughter was a sixth grader and Perry came out with his executive order mandating that all sixth grade girls get the vaccine. Most of the left wing posts I have seen about the issue have actually leaned towards defending the governor saying that his order was the one good action he has taken. I have commented on some of those posts, but I think a longer narrative of my experience may help illuminate this issue in a different light.
I drove past a school today here in San Antonio and on its marquee the most prominent message was "No Shots No School." When Governor Perry made his announcement in February of 2007, these messages were common at all public schools. I have been called by the school nurse at the middle school to which we send our children and warned to update my sixth graders' shot records or risk the denial of enrollment. I am not saying this is a bad thing. Let me be clear I think children should be vaccinated. I think the HPV vaccine is appropriate. I have had my daughter vaccinated with Gardisil. It took three shots. Our pediatrician strongly supported us providing it. My daughter hated it, but she got really cool band-aids and some lollipops out of the deal (you are never too young for Sponge Bob band-aids and lollipops, I guess).
But, the ends don't justify the means.
Texas has a very limited legislative session. It meets every other year from January to the end of May. In February of 2007, a typical conservative legislature friendly to the Governor was in session. And out of nowhere, Rick Perry came out with his executive order. There were no public hints it was coming. He did not write a bill to put in front of the legislature. There were no hearings. There was just an order. Do it. (In fact the Huffington Post blogger who wrote about this issue said that Perry had passed a law.) My dad and I cannot remember whether Perry actually had the legal authority to issue such an order, but think about that for a second - a sudden mandate to vaccinate your sixth grade daughter against a sexually transmitted disease. Then, you found out that the company that made the vaccine was a heavy donator to Perry's campaign. Then, this came to light:
But supporters say vaccinations will save lives - for roughly $400 per child. Texas state legislator Jessica Farrar pushes parents to choose the vaccines over other options, "If you're a parent and you're saying am I going to vaccinate my child or buy her an iPod, they're really the same amount."
This quote comes from a blog post on a local Texas television station's website. Look at the price for the vaccine. My memory was that it was going to cost $135 per shot. No problem for me, I thought, I have insurance. But then the rumors came out that the insurance companies would not pay for it since it was so new. (I have had to fight insurance companies over vaccines before. Sometimes they don't cover the combinations your doctor gives your child. Found that out the hard way.)
So, all of the sudden, you are a parent. You live check to check. Now you are looking at a big expense. An expense you are going to have to comply with in order to get your child signed up for school. I was not buying $400 iPods for anyone in 2007. (I did buy my daughter a 40 dollar mp3 player that year.) My question was where does one man - even if he is the governor - get that kind of power? I thought the state legislature made the laws. Should there not be some public hearings and investigation into the product? I felt powerless. Sorry, I did. Maybe you think I am a bad parent for not automatically thinking this was a great thing. Sorry, I did not. I thought the governor had overstepped his authority.
Michelle Bachmann is nuts. Her arguments against the vaccine are nuts. But, when Rick Perry told me to get my little girl vaccinated with this new magic that his friends from this wonderful company had made, without any real attempt to educate me regarding the benefits and risks, it sucked. Yeah, that is the word. It sucked.
While I sympathize with those who are legitimately concerned about folks not vaccinating their children because of some whacked out ideology and/or questionable anecdotes, I think they are discounting the mindset of us who were directly affected by this decision. Your child is your most precious part of life. If I had hurt my daughter with a rash, uninformed decision I would have never forgiven myself. And, no, I do not put it past Rick Perry to risk the safety of his constituents to make a buck. That is a reason for Democracy is it not? So that one person cannot dictate a decision on his fellow citizens no matter what his societal position. In 2007, I barely knew anything about HPV or Gardisil or Merck, and I did not have the luxury of reading blog posts about the positive aspects of the vaccine. I just had the order of a man trying to prove he was the biggest, baddest cowboy on the block.