The Abstinence-Only Crowd Strikes Again
(thanks to silleigh at the eschaton for the tip and link to this article)

Within two years, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline hope to market a pair of groundbreaking vaccines to prevent a sexually transmitted disease. Known as the human papillomavirus, or HPV, the disease is a leading cause of cervical cancer. About 5,000 women in the United States die each year from cervical cancer.

One drug maker, Merck & Co. Inc., says it will try to persuade states to require vaccination of children as young as 12 before they're allowed to start the next year of school.

"The best way to prevent infection is to vaccinate the population just before they become sexually active, which is when they're young," said Eliav Barr, Merck's senior director of biologics clinical research. "This way, it can be folded into routine medical care."

But the rollout of the vaccines promises to be anything but routine. Vaccinating children for a disease caused by sexual activity may be a tough sell, especially among parents who fear children will take it as a green light to have sex.

Public health officials and parents are gearing up for a heated debate about the finer points of cancer prevention, health care costs and teenage sex.

"The best way to prevent HPV is through abstinence," said Bridget Maher, an analyst at the Family Research Council, a conservative group that expects to campaign against making the vaccines mandatory for entering school. "I see potential harm in giving this vaccine to young women."

Teenagers are going to have sex. Let's prevent them from spreading a dangerous STD. It really is quite simple. What is wrong with these people?

I guarantee as soon as the vaccine is out, my sons will be getting it.
- posted by TJ @ 4:37 PM