The Food and Drug Administration advisory panel approved a vaccine for the human papilloma virus (HPV) last week. The vaccine appears to be 100 percent effective at protecting against the most prevalent viruses that cause cervical cancer. While public health professionals view the vaccine as miraculous, many conservative organizations oppose it on the grounds that it might encourage promiscuity among adolescent girls. Now that the FDA has approved the vaccine, conservatives are already working feverishly to limit or even prevent its use.

The pharmaceutical giant Merck produced the vaccine, known as Gardasil, which will be nothing short of a lifesaver for countless women. Cervical cancer is the second most prevalent cancer killer among women in America, striking nearly 14,000 each year. Of those, nearly 4,000 die. Poor women and women of color will benefit the most from the vaccine, as Latino and black women suffer the highest rates of cervical cancer. Lower-income women typically lack the funds and health insurance necessary to have regular screenings for HPV.

Despite the benefits of the vaccine, conservative organizations began to rally against it last year. One of the most vocal opponents was the Family Research Council. The council, according to its mission statement, "promotes the Judeo-Christian worldview as the basis for a just, free, and stable society." Last October the council's president, Tony Perkins, spoke against the vaccine. "Our concern," he said, "is that this vaccine will be marketed to a segment of the population that should be getting a message about abstinence. It sends the wrong message." He went on to say that he would not vaccinate his 13-year-old daughter.

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Main Entry: entitle
Pronunciation: in-'tI-t&l, en-
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): en·ti·tled; en·ti·tling /-'tIt-li[ng], -&l-i[ng]/
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French entituler, from Late Latin intitulare, from Latin in- + titulus title
1 : to give a title to : DESIGNATE
2 : to furnish with proper grounds for seeking or claiming something

Godamnit you don't have to have sex to get HPV. Not being vaccinated is absurd! It's like if they came up with an AIDS vaccination and people protested because it didn't promote "abstinence." Ugh people take religion to seriously. This vaccine will save thousands of lives!

Kind of like how some religious groups block the distribution of condoms in Africa?

Kind of like how some religious groups block the distribution of condoms in Africa?

I'm ok with medicines that can prevent virii and treatments, but not with contraceptives.

Condoms have a failure rate of about 1%. So if someone with AIDS has sex with someone once a day using a condom, statistically, this person could infect their partner 3 to 4 times in one year.

The only way to stop AIDS is abstinence.