That’s when the FDA is set to make a final decision on the HPV vaccine, which could cut cervical cancer deaths by two-thirds. An FDA advisory panel put their support behind the drug, which in nearly all cases means that the FDA will approve it — except, of course, when we’re talking about women’s reproductive health. So while I’m happy that the panel has approved this vaccine, we’ve seen this before, and it didn’t end particularly well.
The opposition to both Plan B and the cervical cancer vaccine (Gardasil) revolve around slut-punishing and the idea that women should have to pay for having sex — even if it’s with their lives.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted virus. It affects more than 50 percent of sexually active adults. The cervical cancer that it can cause kills 290,000 women a year worldwide, including 3,500 in the United States, where regular Pap smears often detect precancerous lesions and early cancers.
The vaccine is obviously most effective if it’s given before a woman is sexually active. But if we give the vaccine to girls, they might think that it’s a go-ahead to have sex. Because apparently girls wait to have sex because they’re afraid of dying of cervical cancer (kind of how they wait to use tanning salons because they’re afraid of dying of skin cancer. Oh wait).
In the US, for instance, religious groups are gearing up to oppose vaccination, despite a survey showing 80 per cent of parents favour vaccinating their daughters. “Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV,” says Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian lobby group that has made much of the fact that, because it can spread by skin contact, condoms are not as effective against HPV as they are against other viruses such as HIV.
“Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a licence to engage in premarital sex,” Maher claims, though it is arguable how many young women have even heard of the virus.
Right. And better to terrify them out of having sex than to prevent them from dying. To quote the magnificent Katha Pollitt, “It’s honor killing on the installment plan.”
Let’s hope the FDA does the right thing and approves this vaccine.
Even if it is, WHO GIVES A SWEET SHIT?? God forbid young women should engage in premarital sex. No, no no. Civilization could come crashing down upon us.
I see this as a license for Maher to engage in specious reasoning. The FDA’s job is not to pass moral judgements on the sex lives of strangers; it is to ascertain that drugs are safe enough to be consumed by the general public.
Period.
And… viagra might be seen as a license to engage in sex, very possibly not between married partners, and very possibly not with the intent to reproduce. But we still make it available, and none of the religious groups make a fuss about that “sex encouraging” drug, a drug which doesn’t even have the amazing “side effect” of *preventing cancer*.
Don’t you know that women have almost never engaged in premarital sex, up until this point? The threat of cervical cancer has kept nearly every woman chaste until her wedding day. Now the floodgates will open.
Well, seriously, the rates of girls/women who have premarital sex is pretty high already, and it’s higher when you add in oral sex and other sexual acts. So, among the very, very few women who do abstain from ALL genital contact until they are married, how many do they think are doing so only because they might get HPV, which a lot of people are not that familar with? It’s ridiculous. There’s no reason not to approve this except for to punish women who dare to have premarital sex.
“Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a licence to engage in premarital sex.”
Imagine if a vaccine were created that prevented lung cancer. Would anyone give any serious time to critics that argued against it because it would encourage people to smoke?
It’s very interesting that at least a couple of the fundie organizations that were against this on “moral grounds” are now beginning to make public statements “supporting” the vaccine. (Of course, they stipulate, as long as families aren’t “forced” to vaccinate their daughters. I’m not sure what they’re talking about–but rationality was never their strong suit anyway…)
But gee, I’m just thrilled that some of America’s Moral Police have deigned to withdraw their opposition to this vaccine! How very civic-minded of them! I guess God told them it was OK to offer young women an opportunity to reduce their risk of cervical cancer. Whew! That’s good to know that the Almighty approves of reducing suffering and death.
And no, I wouldn’t be so critical of the fundies if they had kept their noses out of public health policy in the first place.
How about an 11th Commandment: Mind Thine Own Business…
OK, end of rant.
Hope you all have a great weekend!
Young women already have a “license” to engage in pre-marital sex, as do young men, as do older women and older men. That’s the thing about freedom, y’know?
Oddly enough, I was kind of afraid of cervical cancer because my mom discussed it with me as a potential issue if I started haivng sex too early. She’s a pediatrician, and she said something about trauma to the cervix increasing my odds of cervical cancer. Didn’t stop me from having sex though.
I really liked Kristof’s way of putting it in the ContraContraception article. It’s now “TimesSelect,” but to paraphrase, if we put spikes on the dashboards on everyone’s car, sue, they’d probably drive safer, but we still wouldn’t do it. But because this is about controlling female sexuality, a time honored patriarchal tradition, it’s perfectly acceptable. And they can constantly justify it to themselves by thinking that sluts deserve to die.
I find it hard to believe that the FDA won’t approve the vaccine at all. I won’t, however, hold my breath for them to make it part of mandatory vaccines for all girls.
Didn’t the Christian right say they’d oppose an AIDS cure as well, for the same reasons? Ugh.
Also, if HPV is only caused by promiscuous sex, then why do they tell us that as soon as you’re married you should start getting them? (In fact, my mom told me I didn’t need to see the gyno at all unless I was married!). Is it in case your husband cheats?
To be perfectly blunt about it, most of the girls I went to school with didn’t know shit about HPV unless they were told they had it. Which, y’know, kinda too late for a vaccine to A: work, and B: encourage you to have sex.
I was put on the pill at nine years of age for medical reasons, and my mum copped this same attitude from “concerned friends”. “Oh, aren’t you worried that she’ll think it’s OK to have sex if she’s on the pill as a teenager?”
On a side note, shouldn’t boys be vaccinated as well since they can be infected with HPV and pass it on to their partners? Its obviously not as important for them personally, but it seems like the public health message should be that everyone should be vaccinated.
I had a discussion with my doctor on Friday and she said it’s driving her crazy that media discussion of the HPV vaccine seems to be focusing entirely on the need to vaccinate girls, and ignoring that boys need to be vaccinated as well.
Yes, well, women are the sex class. This is exhibit A.
That’s my position, too, Trailhead. When I first heard of this vaccine I was so exited about getting my pre-teen SON vaccinated…now I fear that will never happen as he’s leaving the “pre” part soon. However, I will still try to get it as soon as it’s approved. Whenever that is.
Harrison, about families being “forced” to vaccinate their kids: there’s discussion about requiring vaccination against HPV for enrollment in public school. See “Merck cancer vaccine faces Christian-right scrutiny”:
So yeah, it’s actually out there.