This subject surfaced here again today and because its one that I personally have done an extraordinary amount of research and fact finding on, indulge me to share a small portion of the info I took under advisement and how it shaped my opinion.

Both the New England Journal of Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics endorse the use of the vaccination, Gardasil, based on clinical studies that reveal a very low to almost non-existent rate of complications or side effects. The reason that YOUNG girls are recommended to have this 3-stage vaccination is because Gardasil has no effect AFTER exposure to the HPV virus. In other words, Gov. Perry was advised that girls around the age of 11, hopefully of pre-sexual activity age should be the age group receiving it. Advise and counsel was obtained from numerous accredited organizations and medical specialists and research experts. Yes, the words ‘expert’ and ‘official’ and such always throw up red flags to the disbelievers but at some point, whom do we trust in terms of giving us medical advice and guidance especially when they have documented evidence of their findings? Who do we listen to when we hear the word ‘cancer’? I, for one, don’t waste time hearing what those with bias and political agenda’s have to say.

The human papillomavius is the #1 cause of cervical cancer. If a woman contracts the virus, either by consenusal sexual activity or if she is the victim of rape or incest, there is no vaccine and there is no preventative treatment. Left undetected, cervical cancer in its latter stages can be deadly and it can force sterility by the woman having to undergo hysterectomy. Both these unfortunate possibilities are being seen increasingly in young women that contract HPV and then don’t follow up with routine cervical examinations. Some don’t know they have it. As governor, Rick Perry considered these facts and after hearing multiple examples where insurance companies were not paying for the approx. $400 for the 3 injections, this provided some impetus for his Executive Order.

Since Perry’s venture into this debate, recent studies show that HPV is now the #1 cause of oropharyngeal cancer in men, outpacing smoking, chewing tobacco and alcohol as causes. There is an alarming increase in tonsillar and throat cancer in non-smoking men in their 30′s-50′s. This is the result of exposure to HPV early in life, quite possibly during their teen years. Once recommended only for girls, the use of HPV vaccinations in boys share equal recommendation in the medical community. HPV vaccination is proven to prevent 90% of genital warts in males.

All this type of specific medical analogy is too explicit for the do-gooder’s such as Michelle Malkin. Her argument and that of others, is that by very virtue of vaccinating children before they become sexually active is somehow an affront to abstinence and will simply drive young innocents into immediate and reckless activity. As Perry has repeatedly stated more times that we can count, THERE WAS A SPECIFIC AND CLEARLY STATED PARENTAL OPT-OUT CLAUSE in his executive order. Perry had no intention of forcing vaccination on anybody’s child. He did want to protect children from a fast-spreading sexually transmitted disease IF the parent consented. Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in younger age groups. He was frustrated to think that insurance companies were in some cases not covering the cost and he believed both children from poor households as well as those with parents that could afford it, should have access to a medical breakthrough that is proven to head off cancer and a lifetime of suffering from an insiduous disease.

For those parents, such as Ms. Malkin, who have made this a centerpiece of their hatred for Rick Perry, I pose this line of thinking: Surely you must have very little confidence in your parenting thus far in terms of rearing your children in a moral and Christ-like manner. After years of guiding and counseling and steering your child in the ways that you wish them to walk, do you seriously think that by virtue of consenting to a 3-injection anti-cancer vaccination is going to throw away all your effort and heartfelt guidance? This glaring lack of confidence in yourselves as parents should give you pause. You would do well to monitor the lyrics your kids hear from their iPod’s and make sure you are present to overhear locker room talk in middle and high schools because you’ll surely be shocked at what kids in these age groups not just talk about, but what they engage in. Your kids are being bombarded with all sorts of sexually explicit filth and you don’t have an opt-out clause for them when you child wants to belong in their peer group.

We are in the throes of October–National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Pink is on the march everywhere. It’s the most highly publicized cancer in our society. It really, really matters to us as a society to continue to strive to find a cure. Breast cancer can kill. So does cervical cancer and mouth and throat cancer. Imagine the day if we learned that one of our fine Big Pharma companies made the announcement that they had found a highly effective vaccine to prevent breast cancer!! The breast is often associated in a sexual context, right? What if we were told that in order to be protected later in life from breast cancer we’d have to innoculate our daughters at the tender age of 10 or 11; long before conservative, morally grounded parents want their children to start thinking about breast size or the overall thinking regarding a women’s breasts. What if the chemical structure of the vaccine was such that it had to be used prior to the onset of increased hormonal production? Would we cringe and recoil in horror if a governor from of a sovereign state acted in what he believed was the best interest of citizens of his state?

I don’t intend to make light of breast cancer here. This devastating and sometimes fatal disease has dramatically impacted my own family in a very personal and unfortunate way. I have seen up close what it does to victims and families. I also don’t know one person that would not shout for joy if told there has been a vaccination found. And I know fewer parents that would deny their child the vaccination and if they did, at least wouldn’t start a blame attack on the person giving them the option of receiving it, plus financial assistance if needed.

Cervical cancer, the cancers in men now being directly linked to HPV exposure at young ages can create the same havoc and leave an empty place at family tables, too. There are more cases of prostate cancer each year than breast cancer. The point being, cancer can be deadly if left untreated no matter if that particular strain gets national attention or not.

In my most humble opinion, any person that continues to hold out reservation on Rick Perry because of this executive order, which he withdrew and has admitted numerous times was the wrong move, is a person with a limited view on the health and safety of our children and, a person that cannot move past the admission by another human being of having made a mistake. These are persons driven by agenda and political expediency and they are at the core, the very problem in our society because they use situations like this to promote their own self-interest and they prey on the sympathies of those that aren’t informed.

For those here that frequently ask for links to verify info, here’s my response. I will not make your journey in choosing a candidate an easy one. I have spent hundreds of hours researching this particular topic and yes, I could list here a quick 20 webpages so you can fact check what I write. I suggest, with all due respect, you start doing your own homework. When you invest your precious time away from your daily activities, you will take ownership in the information you collect and you will become more passionate in your views and decision-making. Just as your teachers didn’t give you the answer key when you took a test, in this case, you’ll have to do your own digging. Otherwise, you’ll never learn it.

For the Michelle Malkin’s and others that have been publicly outspoken on this, they don’t need my list of references but here’s a few time-tested take-it-to-the-bank references I will share and ones which we all, myself included, would do well to follow:

“Judge not, so you will not be judged.”
“Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
“Beware of false witnesses.”

but am not tech savvy enough to know how to do that. So, once you’ve clicked on THIS comment, you’ll find, “GARDASIL, the facts you don’t know” just above. This is a reply to that original post.

I limited what I wrote, thinking I’d hold readers only so long before they clicked on to something else, so your post provides a wealth of add’l info that is necessary to complete the big picture.

If Fox and our conservative radio talk show hosts were doing their jobs, they’d have called Ms. Bachmann out for her hypocrisy. They love to point fingers at the MSM, or “Lame Stream Media” as Palin calls it (where was HER outrage over Bachmann’s attack?) Bachmann took the bleeding heart role of being the protective mother against the evil governor chasing down young girls and forcibly injecting them with a drug that induces mental retardation. She lost all credibility with her rants and holier than thou attitude. She deliberately left out the facts of her record as MN state legislator so that means she’ll say or do anything for political expediency too. She loves to talk about the need to vet the candidates but of course, she’s immune and her friends in the media that are covering for her, allowing her to get away with stuff like this. I think we should melt the phone lines at Hannity’s radio show and see if he has the guts to take a call about this. Same with Boortz and Levin. If these guys are no longer credible and they’ve been sucked into this, they need to go on record as to why.

Now that Bachmann’s staff in NH has quit, next thing we’ll hear is that they’ve gone to work for Romney and if Bachmann doesn’t win Iowa, she’s done and she’ll follow her staff into his camp. This whole primary situation is so vividly obvious as to which candidates are being protected and why, and which candidate is being essentially abused by the media. If Rick Perry had put his hand on Mitt Romney’s shoulder, he’d probably be accused of assault and the Fox folks would not shut up about it. If Perry had countered Bachmann’s attack on Gardasil during the first debate and reminded her of her votes in MN on hepatitis vaccinations, he’d been ridiculed by Fox for beating up on the girl. Look what’s happened to him for exposing Romney’s hypocrisy on immigration? Romney stood right there in Vegas and lied by saying he’d like to see Perry’s proof that he ever hired an illegal. He knew the lawn care company had illegals on staff or a year and his son hired them for his home, too. Still, he skates free. It’s Perry that was out of line.

Surely a couple dozen books will be written when this is over about the back room deals and dirty politicking that went on to get Romney the nomination. Win at any cost. Ignore proven records of accomplishment. Let’s just convince these ignorant tea party folks that hang on our every word that the best choice is to go w/ the funny guy that hasn’t run anything in 15 years. Then, once all our loyal following is convinced, he’ll drop out and get behind Romney taking them with him. This is such a slick plan; nobody will ever figure it out!