News

Susan Cody: The Moral Dilemma of Unwedded and Teenage Sex: Some Think Cervical Cancer is Earned

I was reading the news link on Empowher, regarding the moral objections to the HPV vaccination.

Many parents will not allow their girls to have the vaccination because they believe it will encourage them to have sex. Since behaviors like smoking leads to cancers, so having sex leads to HPV. Both are behaviors that are preventable, say the objectors to this vaccine.

Kimberly Martinez, executive director of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, a nonprofit group that advocates teaching children not to have sex rather than to have safe sex.

"We don't need to be vaccinating children against something that can be prevented with a behavior change.
....We have to teach kids values and boundaries," she said. "If you give kids the vaccine, you're giving them a license to go have sex."

I find this troubling. Simply because having a penis and vagina is also, perhaps, a license to have sex.

I do not know if my girls will receive it. Simply because I worry enough about the vaccinations they need now, nevermind in 10-15 years! I also want to benefit from further studies because I always worry about side effects. The HPV vaccine is very new - that in itself is a worry.

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Alison Beaver

Cervical Cancer Guide