Politicians regularly talk about unintended consequences. And, today, as I speak, legislatures in at least 18 states, including Wisconsin, are being blitzed on issue that could very well have dire unintended consequences. The blitz is being led by Women in Government, a group pushing to mandate the vaccination of girls as young as 11 years-old against the Human Papillomavirus, or HPV, the sexually transmitted disease linked to 99% of all cases of cervical cancer.

Here in Wisconsin, a bill on this issue has been co-authored by Senators Lena Taylor and Bob Wirch and is currently being circulated for co-sponsors. The bill would make it mandatory for all girls entering the sixth grade in Wisconsin’s public, private and charter schools to receive the vaccination or provide a waiver signed by the girls parent, guardian or legal custodian, in the event the parent does not want the girl to have the vaccine. In addition, the bill calls for the vaccine to be made available without charge, if federal or state funds are available for the vaccine.

The Family Research Institute of Wisconsin has a number of issues with this bill. First, is what could definitely be an unintended consequence of the vaccine. That is that it could send a message to our young girls that society expects them to engage in sexual activity prior to marriage and is therefore vaccinating them with that understanding. In this regard, we believe the bill undermines many parents’ message advocating abstinence as the very best way to promote physical and emotional sexual health.

Very importantly, we believe the bill has an insufficient “opt-out” provision for parents. Existing arrangements that rely on teachers and school administrators supplying parents the proper documents via handouts to children have proven unreliable at best, and many parents are often intimidated or are not informed of their options. We would much prefer to have this program as an “opt-in,” where parents are made aware of the vaccine’s availability and can get the vaccine if they wish, but it would not be required for admission to school.

Interestingly, Gardasil, the commercial name for the vaccine, has not been adequately proven safe for young girls, and although it received FDA and Centers for Disease Control, or CDC, approval this past summer, the stamp of FDA and CDC approval does not necessarily make this vaccine safe. Remember Vioxx? The HPV vaccine is administered in three doses and must be done every 3-1/2 to 5 years according to the vaccine’s manufacturer. Each does contains a significant amount of aluminum, which has been shown to cause nerve damage in animal and human studies. Recent findings by Canadian researchers have shown a link between aluminum in vaccines and symptoms of Parkinsons, Lou Gerhigs and Alzheimers.

Despite the FDA approval, significant and serious side effects occurred during testing of the vaccine, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis to name two. In fact, the FDA already has on file 82 reports of serious adverse reactions to this vaccine which has only been approved for use for less than a year.

With all of this information, are we seriously willing to force this vaccine on all of our little girls during a key point in their reproductive development? We submit that not enough time has passed to know the real fall-out.

As always, there could also be ulterior motives behind the push for this mandated vaccine. Merck, the sole manufacturer of the vaccine, stands to make a large sum of money if the 18 states considering a mandate do in fact impose one. Suffering dramatically from the Vioxx debacle, I’m sure Merck would definitely like to recoup some revenue by ensuring that millions of parents nationwide would have to purchase their vaccine every three to five years. There are roughly 314,000 girls aged 10-17 in Wisconsin. Assuming the vaccine is effective for the stated five years, Wisconsin girls will need to be vaccinated twice during their time in school. At $360 per vaccination, Merck stands to gain tens of millions of dollars from our state's taxpayers and their young girls. Add that number to the potential earnings from other states, and it's not hard to see why groups like Women in Government, which receives financial contributions from Merck, are working hard to pass these bills into law.

In Texas, where the mandate came not from a legislature but from an executive order, Merck was reported to have spent more than $250,000 to lobby the Texas governor to issue the mandate.

The deadline for cosponsoring this bill in Wisconsin is February 9 th. If you would like to share your thoughts on this bill with your elected officials, call the legislative hot line toll free at 800-362-9472, that’s 800-362-9472. Remember, sometimes even the best of intentions have unintended consequences. (Click here for more information on this issue.)

This is Julaine Appling for The Family Research Institute of Wisconsin reminding you the Prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”