HPV Vaccine = SIMPLE CHOICE!!!

I just got through reading another news article which really makes my blood boil. It's called "Cervical Cancer Vaccine Not a Simple Choice" [link]. However, the title is a little confusing to me, as it's not a difficult choice at all. Before I tell you why it's such a simple choice, I should point out that every year, there are 11,000 new cases of cervical cancer and 4,000 women die from it. In fact, 50% of all women who have sex will get this disease, in one form or another, at some point in their life. And what are the side effects of this life saving vaccine? Pain at the injection site and dizziness. Also, as with all injections, there is a possibility of fainting. Considering the fact that this may PREVENT YOU FROM GETTING CANCER, i'd say the side effects are pretty benign.

So why, you may be asking, would anyone have a difficult time making this decision? Well...it's recommended that girls get this vaccine when they're 11 or 12 - most likely before they're sexually active and before they've been exposed to the disease? So, what's the problem with that? Well, the first minor problem is that some people don't want to think about their little girl having sex. This is reasonable, but I hope an easy concern to overcome when you consider the reality of the situation, and the fact that you're reducing her chances of getting cancer! The next reason is the one that really gets me going.

Sometimes people ask why I am so against religion. Aside from the obvious reasons that it's nonsensical, slows scientific progress, and is a waste of time, perhaps the biggest reason is that IT KILLS PEOPLE!! And this is the perfect example! Parents are not letting their children be vaccinated against a disease WHICH CAUSES CANCER because they think it might encourage them to have sex, which of course is frowned upon in the church. Let's ignore the fact that protecting them from one particular cancer causing virus will not protect them from all of the other STD's or unplanned pregnancy, and thus should not make them any more likely to have sex. Even if it were going to make a girl more likely to have sex at an early age, wouldn't you rather them have sex than get cancer? Of course, this conclusion is reached through logic and reason, something which is sorely lacking from religion. Because of these religious nut jobs, legislation requiring all girls in public school to be vaccinated against HPV, as they are required to be vaccinated against many other diseases, was blocked, placing the decision back into the hands of their deluded parents. If you want to kill yourself on religious grounds, have at it. But, denying your children the vaccine for a common type of cancer is nothing short of child neglect.

I'll close with a very good point made by some guy in the article, "How [are you] going to be able to turn to [your] daughter when she's older and tell her, 'When you were younger, I had the chance of making sure you never got a certain type of cancer, and I decided not to do it'?"