Family Research Council's War on Vaccines to Prevent Spread of STDs
I did not realize this until I was reading The Carpetbagger Report earlier tonight. You should read the whole thing.
I wanted to take a moment to comment on the Carpetbagger’s recent post about the Family Research Council’s attack on new vaccines that can combat the human papillomavirus (HPV). I’d like to provide some more information so readers can understand how truly evil the FRC’s stand is.Just heinous stuff from people who call themselves "the moral right" and the "Culture of
First, some background: HPV is a rapidly spreading venereal disease. By some accounts, more than half of all sexually active people may carry the virus, which can cause outbreaks of genital warts. Although not considered as serious as syphilis or gonorrhea, HPV is not to be taken lightly. It’s true that many people who get it never show symptoms, but some forms can increase a woman’s chances of developing cervical cancer.
Merck and GlaxoSmithKline have developed vaccines that immunize against HPV infection. Merck would like to see the vaccine routinely given to young women as they enter high school.
Sure, Merck is probably pushing this since it would hand them a tidy profit, but at the same time, a legitimate public-health issue does exist because — get this — teenagers have been known to have sex. HPV in many ways is a silent epidemic. Condoms are less effective against it than other sexually transmitted diseases, meaning a vaccine could be very useful.
But the FRC has other ideas. The organization’s Bridget Maher told New Scientist: “Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV. Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful because they may see it as a license to engage in premarital sex.”
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