HPV Vaccine: A brief note

I didn’t see the Tea Party debate, but I’ve been informed that criticism of Rick Perry for establishing an anti-HPV vaccination program got applause. Michelle Bachmann then topped that by asserting not only was Perry in the wrong, but HPV virus can make girls retarded! Evidence: A mother told Bachmann her girl’s mind was destroyed by the virus, so that proves it! I have no idea whether Bachmann is lying, the woman is wrong (or for that matter the woman is lying) but that ain’t evidence of anything.
Given that inoculating girls against cancer is, apparently, still controversial, I wanted to restate what I said in an earlier post: This is not about giving girls “permission” to have sex or telling them “I don’t think you can keep yourself pure.” It’s about telling girls “If you decide to have sex, I don’t want you to get cancer as a result.”
I know some religious conservatives believe that their daughters’ chastity belongs to them until they transfer to her husband. Guess what? It doesn’t. It belongs to her. If she becomes an adult and has sex before marriage, that’s 100 percent her choice (including, I note, the decision to abide by her parents’ wishes if she chooses). It’s not a matter of whether they trust her or not, at that age it’s her call (if it’s any comfort, I also think our right to blame our parents for what’s wrong with us stops once we hit our twenties [cases of abuse excepted]).
While we may hear a certain “what can you expect” reaction to people who get heart attacks after years of smoking and overeating, I never hear the same kind of judgmental reaction. I don’t hear the same outrage or implications of guilt when people use drugs to avoid the consequences of overeating or most unhealthy behavior, and I doubt I’d see them if someone came up with a drug that neutralized cigarettes. But sex?
I’d like to think most of the “anti’s” don’t want girls dying of cancer just because they lost their virginity. Given the way the argument is phrased——never so much “they should be punished” as concerns about encouraging sex and licentiousness——I suspect it’s more the religious right’s strong suspicion that sending anything that sounds like a sex-positive message to teens (or in some cases, adults) is equivalent to starting a Sodom and Gomorrah fan club (an attitude I imagine a lot of non-conservatives share).