Rudnick notes, "almost all states have a religious exemption to vaccination---measles, smallpox, the kind of vaccinations we're more familiar with to prevent childhood illnesses, polio, tetanus, and the like. So proponents say, 'Hey, we've been doing this for years with respect to other communicable diseases (so) this shouldn't be such a big deal.'" But opponents say HPV vaccine differs, from polio prevention in that "HPV is not contagious except through sexual contact and those other diseases do not involve sex by young girls who may be, in many cases, below the age of consent, which would make the sexual activity a crime. So they're very, very different," Rudnick says.
Additionally, Rudnick points out, is a growing concern about the efficacy and reliability of the vaccine. Recently, one young woman claimed she was paralyzed by it. "So I think, quite frankly, in the long run the major issue is going to be effectiveness and personal risk." Morgida, though, believes they should start inoculations at the age of 14 or 15, particularly as insurance encourages it and the American Health Association encourages it up until the age of about 35 or 40. "Even women who have had sex once in their life or practice safe sex can catch it. It's not something that wearing a condom will ncessarily prevent. So women can be at risk, very very sexually safe women can be at risk...And if you can get a vaccine that will help you beat a huge factor of cervical cancer and other reproductive cancers, why not do that?"
Federal vaccine advisers lately have been deciding whether vaccines against sexually transmitted infections "should be used more widely in boys and young men," The New York Times reported on October 29 th , 2010. "Concerns about whether to vaccinate against a sexually transmitted disease are made even more charged because much of the serious disease results from homosexual sex. The advisers must also decide whether vaccinating boys would divert scarce resources from a vaccination campaign for girls that has had poor results."
The Massachusetts School of Law at Andover was founded in 1988 to provide an affordable, quality education to students from minority, immigrant, and low-income backgrounds who would not otherwise be able to afford the cost of a legal education. It also serves to provide through its publications and television broadcasts information on critical public issues. To interview either professor Sullivan or Rudnick, call them at (978) 681-0800. Sherwood Ross is a media consultant to the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover.)
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