Six weeks after Gov. Rick Perry issued an executive order making Texas the first state to require that sixth-grade girls be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, the State House of Representatives voted 119 to 21 yesterday to approve a bill that would nullify the order.
But Mr. Perry’s spokeswoman said the efforts to overturn the order would create a dangerous situation in which far fewer women might receive the vaccine.
The order mandated shots of the Merck vaccine Gardasil as protection against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, starting in September 2008. While it was praised by health advocates, it caught many by surprise in a largely conservative state where sexual politics are often hard fought and where both houses of the Legislature are controlled by Republicans.
Ms. Moody said in a statement that the order “would help to protect 95 percent of young women in Texas against the strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were nearly 10,000 cases of cervical cancer last year and about 3,700 deaths from the disease.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/us/14vaccine.html?ex=1331524800&en=8a43ce71ac57404d&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
But Mr. Perry’s spokeswoman said the efforts to overturn the order would create a dangerous situation in which far fewer women might receive the vaccine.
The order mandated shots of the Merck vaccine Gardasil as protection against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, starting in September 2008. While it was praised by health advocates, it caught many by surprise in a largely conservative state where sexual politics are often hard fought and where both houses of the Legislature are controlled by Republicans.
Ms. Moody said in a statement that the order “would help to protect 95 percent of young women in Texas against the strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were nearly 10,000 cases of cervical cancer last year and about 3,700 deaths from the disease.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/us/14vaccine.html?ex=1331524800&en=8a43ce71ac57404d&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss