No matter what happens, know this:
The Christian Right is Protecting Our Freedom!!
...our freedom to get cancer, that is.
You may or may not have heard of Gardasil, a groundbreaking new vaccine that effectively helps to prevent Cervical Cancer and the contraction of genital warts.
Remarkable, right? Astounding, right? Incredibly good news, right?
Yeah, if you're a godless liberal hedonist...
I was shocked to turn to the front page of my local newspaper today and see the following headline:
"Cervical Cancer Drug Attracts Controversy" --Wait, I thought,
Cancer Drug? --wait some more...
Controversy? Interesting.
Must have some potentially serious side effects, or maybe they manufacture it out of jelly extracted from the eyeballs of living endangered condors...
Nope, that's not it. The sub-headline read: "Drug could be given to young girls; some say this could seem like permission to have sex."
Oh you've got to be kidding me.
Read on, from the Bloomington Herald-Times (Subscription only, so I'll be quoting more than I usually would):
Cervical Cancer Drug Attracts Controversy
by Dann Denny
Hoosier Times
BLOOMINGTON -- Local physicians are excited about a recently approved vaccine that will protect girls and young women from cervical cancer, but say it probably won't be available in this area for several weeks.
And proponents of sexual abstinence say that giving the vaccine to young girls might send the message that it's OK for them to become Sexually active.
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration licensed the vaccine, Gardasil, for use in girls and women ages 9 through 26.
[snip]
Highly Effective
The vaccine works by preventing infection by four of the dozens of strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV -- which can cause genital warts and cervical cancer.
Sabga said Gardasil offers protection from HPV 16 and 18, the two strains of HPV responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancer cases worldwide...as well as HPV 6 and 11, thw two viral strains responsible for 90 PERCENT of genital wart cases.
Research also suggests it protects against vaginal and vulvar cancers linked to the four types of HPV.
The article says that clinical studies show Gardasil as REMARKABLY effective, as it prevented 100% of cervical cancer cases related to HPV strains 16 and 18, as well as 99% of genital warts cases caused by strains 6 and 11.
Am I the only one that is astounded by this? Why haven't we heard more about this? Granted, the drug is brand-new, but usually the public hears about important new drugs, even as they're in the developmental stages.
But wait, there's more. Because HPV is a largely sexually transmitted virus, it's recommended that women receive the Gadrasil vaccine before they become sexually active, with most physicians saying that they will look to supply the vaccine to adolescents and children.
"As a child advocate and former child therapist," [said Tina Tuley-Lampke of Bloomington's 'Crisis Pregnancy Center,'] "I'm also worried that giving this vaccine to young girls might send the message to them that sexual activity involving children is being accepted into the mainstream of our culture."
Sandy DeWeese, practice administrator at Southern Indiana Pediatrics, said, "But that is just not accurate. Our practice sees this as an extremely positive thing that will prevent a large number of women from getting cervical cancer."
For more information about Gardasil, click here:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/...
Each year, cervical cancer kills 300,000 women--3,900 from the United States.
Merck & Co., who manufacture the drug, has posted on their website that the three-shot series will cost around $360.00, which is expected to be covered by Medicaid and most insurance plans.
This story was originally posted at Deny My Freedom