Catholic school refuses to promote promiscuity via HPV vaccination

[buffalo]

Catholic school refuses to promote promiscuity via HPV vaccination

Vituperation is being heaped upon the governors of St Monica’s High School in Bury because they have refused to allow 12 and 13-year-old girls to be vaccinated on the premises against the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) under a Government scheme. Since the purpose of the injections is to reduce the risk of cervical cancer due to sexual promiscuity, it is a controversial programme. The school governors have set out their purely medical reservations in a letter to parents.
Last year Monsignor John Allen, one of the governors, voiced the moral objections: “Morally it seems to be a sticking-plaster response. Parents must consider the knock-on effect of encouraging sexual promiscuity. Instead of taking it for granted that teenagers will engage in sexual activity, we can offer a vision of a full life keeping yourself for a lifelong partnership in marriage.”

more…

 

[tonyl]

I just don’t understand this concept espoused by the thread title. How does preventing disease promote promiscuity? How is preventing suffering inconsistent with our faith? As Catholics, we shouldn’t want people to suffer, nor should we refrain from preventing suffering simply because most (but not all) of those who will suffer are sinners.

I also think it’s sad that some believe that the threat of STDs is the only thing that will prevent teenagers from having sex.

Why not teach morals AND do our best to prevent needless suffering? It seems like that would be a response more in keeping with our faith.

 

[Cobbfmly]

I just don’t understand this concept espoused by the thread title. How does preventing disease promote promiscuity? How is preventing suffering inconsistent with our faith? As Catholics, we shouldn’t want people to suffer, nor should we refrain from preventing suffering simply because most (but not all) of those who will suffer are sinners.

I also think it’s sad that some believe that the threat of STDs is the only thing that will prevent teenagers from having sex.

Why not teach morals AND do our best to prevent needless suffering? It seems like that would be a response more in keeping with our faith.

By giving the shot we are telling our children we want the to stay chaste, but we don’t trust them to.

If our children stay chaste, they do not need the shot until they are going to be married to a person who was not chaste.

There is a very small risk that the child will be raped and get HPV. It is up to the child’s parent to decide if the risk is high enough to get the child vaccinated, not the government’s.

There is also the risk that a married woman who was chaste until marriage and married a chaste man, will end up getting HPV if her husband has an affair. It is up to the women to decide if the risk of infidelity is high enough to get the vaccine, not the government’s.

My daughter’s doctor does not give the shot to girls unless there is a chance that the girl is at risk of becoming sexually active. She determines this by speaking with the girl about boys, relationships, sex, etc and watches her body language during the conversation. A young teen girl that wrinkles her nose at the thought of sex does not need the shot.

I have walked the middle road with my daughter. She knows I expect her to stay chaste and I am not going to do things that indicated otherwise. I have let my daughter know that I would really like her to speak with me if she should start thinking about having sex. No matter whether she speaks with me or not she is to go see her doctor. I know her doctor will do her very best as a Catholic to convince my daughter not to have sex. If she is not successful at convincing my daughter not to have sex, then she would do what is necessary to protect my daughter’s health.

 

[ELDEN_S_WIFE]

Here is some information I found within a few minutes of checking online. The question people might want to answer is:
Do I want my daughter to be one less?

1. One less person who is carefull with whom she sleeps with because she has been vaccinated and is immune to HPV?

There are actually more than 100 different strains of HPV. Of these, approximately 30 exist in the genital area and can cause genital warts (condyloma acuminata). These 30 strains can be further broken down to “high” and “low” risk strains.
High risk strains may cause changes in a Pap smear which may rarely progress to cancer. There are approximately 13 high-risk strains of HPV, of which two (16 & 18) are believed to cause about 70% of all cervical cancer.

Deaths Associated with HPV Vaccine Start Rolling In, Over 3500 Adverse Affects Reported
By John-Henry Westen

lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/sep/07092004.html

TORONTO, September 20, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) -
In just little over a year, the HPV vaccine has been associated with at least five deaths, not to mention thousands of reports of adverse effects, hundreds deemed serious, and many that required hospitalization.

Judicial Watch, a U.S. government watchdog, became concerned while noting large donations to key politicians originating from Merck. A freedom of information request from the group in May of this year discovered that during the period from June 8, 2006 - when the vaccines received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - to May 2007 there were 1,637 reports of adverse reactions to the HPV vaccine reported to the FDA.

Three deaths were related to the vaccine, including one of a 12-year-old. One physician’s assistant reported that a female patient “died of a blood clot three hours after getting the Gardasil vaccine.” Two other reports, on girls 12 and 19, reported deaths relating to heart problems and/or blood clotting.

11 Deaths, 28 Miscarriages, 3461 Adverse Reactions: HPV Vaccine’s Dark Side
betterhealthnews.com/2008/01/29/hpv-vaccines-dark-side/

Excerpt:
Apparently side effects such as paralysis, Bells Palsy, Guillian-Barre Syndrome and seizures have been reported. In the UK, reports of paralysis, coma and severe changes in menstrual cycles (moodiness, hormonal imbalance, severe bleeding) have been reported. One of the most alarming statistic was that out of 77 pregnant women who received the vaccine, 33 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormalities.
However the makers of the vaccine were not concerned over the statistic, stating that it mirrored what happens in the normal population.
Not concerned?
33 of 77 pregnant women having difficulty AFTER getting your vaccine isn’t something to be concerned about?

Hummm…when I was doing Ob-Gyn, a LACK of complications in young women was the norm. In this case we’re talking a 43% complication rate. That’s not normal!
There have been at least 11 reported deaths in the US and 3 in the UK of girls and young women dying DAYS after getting the HPV vaccine. This is alarming but not enough for the FDA to take another look at its safety.
Even the miscarriages would make one wonder if the vaccine was an incidental to this, or if maybe, just maybe, it caused it. When we have cautions on giving pregnant women drugs and supplements, WHY are we giving them the newest vaccine to hit the market? There is no long term data regarding safety and some short term data that does more than urge caution.
Giving this type of vaccine to a child has had my dander up for quite some time. Making it MANDATORY, well, thems fightin’ words. The proponents act like contracting HPV is similar to getting the common cold. No, you have to do a lot more than sneeze to get it. A LOT more. To me, a better solution would be to teach your kid on the value of abstinence…and let her decide when she’s of legal age whether to get the vaccine or not…with her having ALL the facts, including the potential dangers of this vaccine.

 

[ELDEN_S_WIFE]

Here is some information I found within a few minutes of checking online.

---

There are actually more than 100 different strains of HPV. Of these, approximately 30 exist in the genital area and can cause genital warts (condyloma acuminata). These 30 strains can be further broken down to “high” and “low” risk strains.
High risk strains may cause changes in a Pap smear which may rarely progress to cancer. There are approximately 13 high-risk strains of HPV, of which two (16 & 18) are believed to cause about 70% of all cervical cancer.

Deaths Associated with HPV Vaccine Start Rolling In, Over 3500 Adverse Affects Reported
By John-Henry Westen

lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/sep/07092004.html

TORONTO, September 20, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) -
In just little over a year, the HPV vaccine has been associated with at least five deaths, not to mention thousands of reports of adverse effects, hundreds deemed serious, and many that required hospitalization.

Judicial Watch, a U.S. government watchdog, became concerned while noting large donations to key politicians originating from Merck. A freedom of information request from the group in May of this year discovered that during the period from June 8, 2006 - when the vaccines received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - to May 2007 there were 1,637 reports of adverse reactions to the HPV vaccine reported to the FDA.

Three deaths were related to the vaccine, including one of a 12-year-old. One physician’s assistant reported that a female patient “died of a blood clot three hours after getting the Gardasil vaccine.” Two other reports, on girls 12 and 19, reported deaths relating to heart problems and/or blood clotting.

11 Deaths, 28 Miscarriages, 3461 Adverse Reactions: HPV Vaccine’s Dark Side
betterhealthnews.com/2008/01/29/hpv-vaccines-dark-side/

Excerpt:
Apparently side effects such as paralysis, Bells Palsy, Guillian-Barre Syndrome and seizures have been reported. In the UK, reports of paralysis, coma and severe changes in menstrual cycles (moodiness, hormonal imbalance, severe bleeding) have been reported. One of the most alarming statistic was that out of 77 pregnant women who received the vaccine, 33 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormalities.
However the makers of the vaccine were not concerned over the statistic, stating that it mirrored what happens in the normal population.
Not concerned?
33 of 77 pregnant women having difficulty AFTER getting your vaccine isn’t something to be concerned about?

Hummm…when I was doing Ob-Gyn, a LACK of complications in young women was the norm. In this case we’re talking a 43% complication rate. That’s not normal!
There have been at least 11 reported deaths in the US and 3 in the UK of girls and young women dying DAYS after getting the HPV vaccine. This is alarming but not enough for the FDA to take another look at its safety.
Even the miscarriages would make one wonder if the vaccine was an incidental to this, or if maybe, just maybe, it caused it. When we have cautions on giving pregnant women drugs and supplements, WHY are we giving them the newest vaccine to hit the market? There is no long term data regarding safety and some short term data that does more than urge caution.
Giving this type of vaccine to a child has had my dander up for quite some time. Making it MANDATORY, well, thems fightin’ words. The proponents act like contracting HPV is similar to getting the common cold. No, you have to do a lot more than sneeze to get it. A LOT more. To me, a better solution would be to teach your kid on the value of abstinence…and let her decide when she’s of legal age whether to get the vaccine or not…with her having ALL the facts, including the potential dangers of this vaccine.

The question people might want to answer is:
Do I want my daughter to be one less?
1. One less person who is carefull with whom she sleeps with because she has been vaccinated and is immune to HPV? (Since it only vaccinates against 4 HPV Strains and there are over 13 of the 100 existing strains that are high risk for cervical cancer, we know this is not true, yet how many will think they are immune?)
OR
2. One less person. (Since the vaccine can and has caused death.)

This is how we end suffering?? Lure children into a false sense of security? Thats if they survive? Also, what are the problems down the road? The drug Guardisil (Sp?) has not been around long enough to study the long term effects of innoculating 9 year olds.

You can voluntarily let your children be the guinea pigs, but leave mine alone thank you very much!

 

[ELDEN_S_WIFE]

Here is some information I found within a few minutes of checking online.

---

There are actually more than 100 different strains of HPV. Of these, approximately 30 exist in the genital area and can cause genital warts (condyloma acuminata). These 30 strains can be further broken down to “high” and “low” risk strains.
High risk strains may cause changes in a Pap smear which may rarely progress to cancer. There are approximately 13 high-risk strains of HPV, of which two (16 & 18) are believed to cause about 70% of all cervical cancer.

Deaths Associated with HPV Vaccine Start Rolling In, Over 3500 Adverse Affects Reported
By John-Henry Westen

lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/sep/07092004.html

TORONTO, September 20, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) -
In just little over a year, the HPV vaccine has been associated with at least five deaths, not to mention thousands of reports of adverse effects, hundreds deemed serious, and many that required hospitalization.

Judicial Watch, a U.S. government watchdog, became concerned while noting large donations to key politicians originating from Merck. A freedom of information request from the group in May of this year discovered that during the period from June 8, 2006 - when the vaccines received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - to May 2007 there were 1,637 reports of adverse reactions to the HPV vaccine reported to the FDA.

Three deaths were related to the vaccine, including one of a 12-year-old. One physician’s assistant reported that a female patient “died of a blood clot three hours after getting the Gardasil vaccine.” Two other reports, on girls 12 and 19, reported deaths relating to heart problems and/or blood clotting.

11 Deaths, 28 Miscarriages, 3461 Adverse Reactions: HPV Vaccine’s Dark Side
betterhealthnews.com/2008…nes-dark-side/

Excerpt:
Apparently side effects such as paralysis, Bells Palsy, Guillian-Barre Syndrome and seizures have been reported. In the UK, reports of paralysis, coma and severe changes in menstrual cycles (moodiness, hormonal imbalance, severe bleeding) have been reported. One of the most alarming statistic was that out of 77 pregnant women who received the vaccine, 33 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormalities.
However the makers of the vaccine were not concerned over the statistic, stating that it mirrored what happens in the normal population.
Not concerned?
33 of 77 pregnant women having difficulty AFTER getting your vaccine isn’t something to be concerned about?

Hummm…when I was doing Ob-Gyn, a LACK of complications in young women was the norm. In this case we’re talking a 43% complication rate. That’s not normal!
There have been at least 11 reported deaths in the US and 3 in the UK of girls and young women dying DAYS after getting the HPV vaccine. This is alarming but not enough for the FDA to take another look at its safety.
Even the miscarriages would make one wonder if the vaccine was an incidental to this, or if maybe, just maybe, it caused it. When we have cautions on giving pregnant women drugs and supplements, WHY are we giving them the newest vaccine to hit the market? There is no long term data regarding safety and some short term data that does more than urge caution.
Giving this type of vaccine to a child has had my dander up for quite some time. Making it MANDATORY, well, thems fightin’ words. The proponents act like contracting HPV is similar to getting the common cold. No, you have to do a lot more than sneeze to get it. A LOT more. To me, a better solution would be to teach your kid on the value of abstinence…and let her decide when she’s of legal age whether to get the vaccine or not…with her having ALL the facts, including the potential dangers of this vaccine.

As in the commercial the question people need to answer is:
Do I want my daughter to be one less?
1. One less person who is carefull with whom she sleeps with because she has been vaccinated and is immune to HPV? (Since it only vaccinates against 4 HPV Strains and there are over 13 of the 100 existing strains that are high risk for cervical cancer, we know this is not true, yet how many will think they are immune?)
OR
2. One less person. (Since the vaccine can and has caused death.)

This is how we end suffering?? Lure children into a false sense of security? Thats if they survive? Also, what are the problems down the road? The drug Guardisil (Sp?) has not been around long enough to study the long term effects of innoculating 9 year olds.

You can voluntarily let your children be the guinea pigs, but leave mine alone thank you very much!

 

[GemmaRose]

1. Childhood vaccines can also cause serious complications or death. Do we stop having our children vaccinated against childhood diseases?
2. Gardasil helps prevent 4 types of HPV, 2 of which cause @ 70% of cervical cancers, and 2 other types that cause @ 90% of the cases of genital warts.
3. The vaccination is meant for females aged 9 through 26, the first half of which shouldn’t be getting pregnant in the first place, and the older ones being of an age to be intelligent enough to know when and if they are pregnant. After all, we are substantially advanced from the days when a woman had to wait approximately 3 months before the rabbit died.
4. Allowing your daughter to be vaccinated against these diseases will have no effect upon her being promiscuous or not if the parents have done their jobs in giving her a good moral upbringing. Unfortunately, even the very best religious and moral upbringing will not protect a young woman whose husband may be carrying the HPV virus into the marriage bed.

One day, there will probably be a vaccine against all types of cancer. Will you also prevent your daughter from receiving that?

 

[Brendan]

Unfortunately, even the very best religious and moral upbringing will not protect a young woman whose husband may be carrying the HPV virus into the marriage bed.

Exactly, that is why my daughters should recieve the vaccine during the engagement. But there is no reason for it to happen prior, unless promiscuity is involved.

 

[ELDEN_S_WIFE]

GemmaRose said:

1. Childhood vaccines can also cause serious complications or death. Do we stop having our children vaccinated against childhood diseases?

---

Yes in some cases. Look at the Chicken Pox vaccine. Some schools are requiring it, yet now they are finding it is not permanent. You have to get boosters every 5-10 years and then you will most likely still get the virus. I know of a half dozen children who recently came down with Chicken pox after having the shot in the last few years. So what good is the shot? The chicken pox is not deadly in most cases. (Yes, if your child falls into the high risk category, by all means, make your own free will decision to get them vaccinated, but again, leave mine alone.)
I would rather my child get the chicken pox as a child and get over it, than to try to remember throughout early adulthood to get a booster shot. As a child the problem is mostly itching, but as an adult the problems can be sterilization, blindness, etc.

So the question is, am I helping or hurting my child? Hmmmmm!!!

My daughters cannot “catch” HPV in school, so why do the schools want to make it mandatory? Are they going to allow sex in the halls? (more than they already do?)

And if my daughter dies or becomes paralyzed or has some other side effect from this unnecessary “school” vaccine, is the school going to compensate me? Will they bring my daughter back?

At 9 I am still in the process of forming her moral values. How do I explain why she needs this shot for something she can only get if she has sex with someone infected by HPV.

Vaccines have risks, and you need to weigh them against the benefits. You can catch and die from small pox, Hep B, and other diseases through casual contact, so those have become necessary. But sexually transmitted diseases are not casually caught.

In my opinion, people who are for “forced” vaccination have no argument other than socialism. Our country was founded on freedom and I choose not to have my daughter vaccinated.

 

[TMC]

I can’t believe there is even a debate over this. Why choose NOT to protect people from a serious disease?

1. Allowing your daughter to be vaccinated against these diseases will have no effect upon her being promiscuous or not if the parents have done their jobs in giving her a good moral upbringing. Unfortunately, even the very best religious and moral upbringing will not protect a young woman whose husband may be carrying the HPV virus into the marriage bed.

All of the above are so obviously true that I am surprised that anyone had to say it, but I’m glad you did.

At 9 I am still in the process of forming her moral values. How do I explain why she needs this shot for something she can only get if she has sex with someone infected by HPV.

Is this a serious question? Why would getting the shot require explaining sex and the details of HPV to your nine year old? When my kids got shots I just told them they need shots to protect them from diseases. Did you go over what Hep A and Hep B are and how one might contract those diseases whey she got those shots?

 

[HouseArrest]

The school does not have to allow vaccination on the premises - if a parent wants a vaccine, why don’t they go to the doctor’s office to get it? Why do schools have to take care of EVERYTHING your child needs? And do you even WANT them to?

If I were the school official I wouldn’t allow it either. I wouldn’t touch that with a 10 foot pole.

 

[KCT]

The school does not have to allow vaccination on the premises - if a parent wants a vaccine, why don’t they go to the doctor’s office to get it? Why do schools have to take care of EVERYTHING your child needs? And do you even WANT them to?

If I were the school official I wouldn’t allow it either. I wouldn’t touch that with a 10 foot pole.

Agree.

 

[GemmaRose]

The school does not have to allow vaccination on the premises - if a parent wants a vaccine, why don’t they go to the doctor’s office to get it? Why do schools have to take care of EVERYTHING your child needs? And do you even WANT them to?
**Why?

Just because you are on the road to winning parent-of-the-year award, does not mean that other children are so fortunate.

The schools do it because of (a) all the families who won’t get it done because they have no medical insurance, and (b) all the irresponsible individuals who choose to reproduce but who do not choose to fulfill parental obligations.

When I was in 1st** grade, we all received our polio vacines in (Catholic) school and I bet our parents were quite grateful since they had lived through the epidemic of putting a healthy child to bed and waking up to find a paralyzed child.

If I were the school official I wouldn’t allow it either. I wouldn’t touch that with a 10 foot pole.
And if, God forbid, your daughter someday lay dying in your arms of cervical cancer because the man she married lied to her about his being a virgin, if she asks, “Why didn’t you have me vaccinated, Mom?”, what will you say to her then? “Sorry, dear. I wouldn’t touch it with a 10 foot pole” ?

 

[Brendan]

And if, God forbid, your daughter someday lay dying in your arms of cervical cancer because the man she married lied to her about his being a virgin, if she asks, “Why didn’t you have me vaccinated, Mom?”, what will you say to her then? “Sorry, dear. I wouldn’t touch it with a 10 foot pole” ?

I don’t think that anyone is debating young, engaged, women receiving this vaccine, but rather school kids. That is the entire point of the thread.

Unless, of course, that you are claiming that the Catholic school in question has engaged women in it’s student body.

I personally would encourage my daughters to get this vaccine after she announces her engagement. I, of course, could not force them, as they would be a grown adults at that time.

But there is no need for them to receive it at anytime prior.

 

[timotheos]

Yes, the school is wrong not to give the Gardasil vaccine. They should also teach the use of condoms, IUDs, and BCPs because, you know, they’re going to do it anyway. They should be educated re: tubal ligations and vasectomies, because at some point after having a child (or not) they are going to want to have unrestricted sex without the burden of any more children anyway. They should give them copies of the DaVinci Code because they’re going to question their faith anyway.

Did I leave anything out? Maybe distribute some pornography while we’re at it? Because they are going to objectify the opposite sex like “everyone else” anyway.

It sure is fun sliding down the slope. BTW, the vaccine is not nearly as good as the claims state, but that would take another hour for me to explain.

Tim

 

[GemmaRose]

Yes, the school is wrong not to give the Gardasil vaccine. They should also teach the use of condoms, IUDs, and BCPs because, you know, they’re going to do it anyway. They should be educated re: tubal ligations and vasectomies, because at some point after having a child (or not) they are going to want to have unrestricted sex without the burden of any more children anyway. They should give them copies of the DaVinci Code because they’re going to question their faith anyway.

Did I leave anything out? Maybe distribute some pornography while we’re at it? Because they are going to objectify the opposite sex like “everyone else” anyway.

It sure is fun sliding down the slope. BTW, the vaccine is not nearly as good as the claims state, but that would take another hour for me to explain.

Tim

Obviously, it sure is fun (for you) to insult intelligent opinions.

Most vaccines weren’t ideal when they first were introduced, but were improved as knowledge and technology increased. It didn’t stop most rational people from getting their children vaccinated against diseases that were, arguably, non-fatal. (After all, I survived measles, German measles, chicken pox, mumps, and whooping cough. There were no vaccines for these things when I was a child.)

I repeat, if, God forbid, your daughter someday lay dying in your arms of cervical cancer because the man she married lied to her about his being a virgin, if she asks, “Why didn’t you have me vaccinated, Dad?”, what will you say to her then? “Sorry, dear. I was a pigheaded a**” ?

Oh, BTW, you needn’t spend any of your time explaining anything about the vaccine. I can read as well as you can, and with an IQ over 155, I can also understand what I read.

 

[Cobbfmly]

I repeat, if, God forbid, your daughter someday lay dying in your arms of cervical cancer because the man she married lied to her about his being a virgin, if she asks, “Why didn’t you have me vaccinated, Dad?”, what will you say to her then? “Sorry, dear. I was a pigheaded a**” ?

I have no objections with my daughter getting vaccinated as an engaged woman. I will definitely highly encourage to her to get vaccinated when she is engaged, regardless of what her fiancee says. However, she will be an adult at that time and will have to make the final decission on her own.

Why risk my child’s health on a vaccine that she may never need as she may choose to stay single or become a nun? What prevents my child from getting the vaccine when she is engaged?

 

[Brendan]

I repeat, if, God forbid, your daughter someday lay dying in your arms of cervical cancer because the man she married lied to her about his being a virgin, if she asks, “Why didn’t you have me vaccinated, Dad?”, what will you say to her then? “Sorry, dear. I was a pigheaded a**” ?

And, I repeat.

Encourage the daughter get the vaccine when she announces her engagement.

In that way, she is protected from her soon to be husband.

You seem to be really hyping on this 'non virginal husband thing". Do you really and honestly believe that elementary aged girls are getting married to ANYONE… least of all non virgins

If not, why do you care if elementary girls get the vaccine. You yourself admit that the vaccine will most likely be improved. So by the time they are preparing to be married, the can receive a better version of the vaccine.

 

[Jennifer123]

I repeat, if, God forbid, your daughter someday lay dying in your arms of cervical cancer because the man she married lied to her about his being a virgin, if she asks, “Why didn’t you have me vaccinated, Dad?”, what will you say to her then? “Sorry, dear. I was a pigheaded a**” ?

Oh, BTW, you needn’t spend any of your time explaining anything about the vaccine. I can read as well as you can, and with an IQ over 155, I can also understand what I read.

Does anyone else notice a similarity between the specious arguments for abortion and those for administering the HPV vaccine? :twocents:

Many of us oppose the government intrusion of the HPV vaccine because we see it for what it is - normalization and rationalization of sexual activity. It is just one more plank in the platform of making people think sex is just an animalistic behavior and is safe from disease.

You might want to be careful about throwing IQ numbers around - you know what they say about book smarts and common sense.

 

[timotheos]

Oh, BTW, you needn’t spend any of your time explaining anything about the vaccine. I can read as well as you can, and with an IQ over 155, I can also understand what I read.

OK, pardon my initially flippant answer, it’s just that I get so tired of one sided information from Merck and it’s supported scientific community.

Here’s a fact, gleaned from reading through reports from the FUTURE trials: What is the overall reduction in the rate of CIN-2 and 3 (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, moderate and severe degrees) in the best vaccinated population (perfect compliance, vaccine strain-naive, etc.)? Only 27%. So this best-protected population still has a substantial rate of CIN-2 and 3, that is, 73% of the placebo population. And without testing for vaccine-strain naivite, the rate is even higher. A regular pap testing program with adequate treatment for premalignant lesions has high efficacy in preventing cervical cancer. The true efficacy of the current vaccine is unproven, either alone or in combination with pap screening.

I repeat, if, God forbid, your daughter someday lay dying in your arms of cervical cancer because the man she married lied to her about his being a virgin, if she asks, “Why didn’t you have me vaccinated, Dad?”, what will you say to her then? “Sorry, dear. I was a pigheaded a**” ?

Fair question, but her father is the director of a cytology laboratory, and she at 15 already knows more about the risk factors and pathogenesis of cervical cancer than many health professionals. She knows how HPV is contracted, about the importance of pap testing, and why. She knows nothing is 100%, even if she gets married as a virgin. She also knows that the importance of chastity is more than a health issue, it is an issue of her dignity, as a human being created in the image and likeness of God.

No question, I am often a pigheaded a**. But in this area I base my opinion and guidance on information, reason and faith.

-Tim