Merck Pharmaceutical has been very busy.  They have been lobbying legislatures in all 50 states pushing Gardasil which is the only vaccination known to protect women from contracting human papillomavirus or HPV.  Gardasil is not one hundred percent effective in preventing HPV.  It is touted to be effective against about seventy percent of the strains of HPV which can lead to cervical cancer in women.  According to the American Cancer Society, more than 11,100 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2007. The disease will claim the life of close to 3,700 of those women.  If Gardasil delivers on its promise, those numbers could be reduced over time to just over 3,300 women diagnosed and less than 715 deaths.  That would certainly be a dramatic improvement and is should be enough to motivate parents to have their daughters vaccinated without the government getting involved.

            Approximately 20 states already have bills introduced in their legislatures which would force girls as young as 10 years old to be vaccinated or they will not be able to attend public school.    Florida, Illinois, Indiana, and Virginia have bills that have gained at least initial readings.  My own state of South Carolina has a bill that has been assigned to a subcommittee and is generating heated debate. The bill, sponsored by Joan Brady (R-Richland County) originally had no opt out clause for any reason.  Responding to tremendous pressure from the public, Brady amended the bill to include an opt out clause for parents for any reason.  Texas governor Rick Perry decided to bypass the legislature altogether and simply issued an executive order requiring girls entering the 6^th grade in 2008 to be vaccinated. 

            The arguments in favor of mandatory vaccinations are strong.  Statistics show that only about 25 percent of the population receives vaccinations when they are optional.  As one might expect, mandatory vaccinations raise that number to just over 95 percent.  The argument is also made that mandatory vaccinations will make the drug more affordable, and will guarantee no one will be excluded for financial reasons.  Since there are 200 cases of cervical cancer each year in South Carolina and 55 women die, many people believe the moral thing to do is get the government involved. 

But there is absolutely no constitutional authority for such a mandate.  Some say we already have mandatory vaccinations against measles, smallpox, and other deadly airborne viruses so why shouldn’t we protect women against the possibility of cervical cancer?  The answer, of course is that HPV isn’t airborne. The only way to contract the virus is through sexual contact.  While the government may have a compelling reason to protect the general population from a potentially deadly virus that can be spread by casual contact it has no such reason or the moral authority to force such an action against a disease that can be prevented by following the Bible’s plan for sex.