Re: Texas Legislators Block Shots for Girls Against Cancer Virus
From: Anna Meenan, MD (annam@uic.edu)
Thu Apr 26 14:45:45 2007
Prime example of liberal bias in the media. It's subtle sometimes, so
you gotta watch for it, but note how the omission of one word
("mandatory") from that headline changes the entire slant. Just an
observation. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
--
Anna Meenan, MD
At Thu, 26 Apr 2007, Dean Huffman . wrote:
>
>..
>
>Texas Legislators Block Shots for Girls Against Cancer Virus
>
>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/26/us/26texas.html?ref=us
>
>By RALPH BLUMENTHAL
>
>Published: April 26, 2007
>
>HOUSTON, April 25 — A revolt by lawmakers has blocked Gov. Rick Perry’s effort
>to make Texas the first state to require sixth-grade girls to be vaccinated
>against a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.
>
>In a 135-to-2 vote that appeared veto-proof, the Texas House gave final passage
>on Wednesday to a Senate bill that bars the state from ordering the shots until
>at least 2011. Even many supporters of the governor resented Mr. Perry's
>proposal as an abuse of executive authority.
>
>"There was no public testimony — why we were jumping so fast into a vaccine that
>was not for a true communicable disease," said Senator Glenn Hegar Jr., a
>Republican representing a district just west of Houston who sponsored the
>Senate bill to overturn the governor’s order. It passed 30 to 1 on Monday.
>
>But Senator Leticia van de Putte, a Democrat from San Antonio who is a
>pharmacist and was the lone Senate vote for the vaccination program, said that
>with 400 deaths in Texas from cervical cancer each year, "I'm thinking of the
>women that will die because we didn’t act."
>
>Governor Perry, through his office, voiced regret at the legislative action but
>declined to say what his next step would be.
>
>"The governor stayed true to his word to Texas women and continues to be their
>advocate," said Krista Moody, a spokeswoman in Austin.
>
>Mr. Perry, a Republican who was narrowly re-elected to his second full term in
>November, surprised almost everyone on Feb. 2 by bypassing the
>Republican-controlled Legislature and announcing the initiative.
>
>He said he would sign an executive order directing the Texas Health and Human
>Services Commission to adopt rules requiring all 11- and 12-year old girls
>entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus, or
>HPV, starting in September 2008. The order allowed parents to let their
>daughters opt out of the program.
>
>The vaccine, Gardasil, is manufactured by Merck, which was represented in Austin
>by the lobbyist Mike Toomey, who was chief of staff for Mr. Perry from 2002 to
>2004.
>
>The governor’s office denied any connection between the governor’s proposal and
>Mr. Toomey. A Merck spokesman declined to comment on the company’s lobbying.
>
>But Merck, which had begun a campaign for Gardasil in legislatures around the
>country, reacted to growing opposition to proposed vaccine mandates by
>announcing in late February that it was dropping its legislative campaign.
>
>While some health authorities and public advocates in Texas praised the
>governor’s order, many reacted angrily. Legislators argued that their authority
>had been usurped by the executive branch, which the state’s founding fathers
>intended as a weak branch of government.
>
>On March 14, the Texas House voted 118 to 23 to prevent the health commission
>from issuing any vaccination mandate. But a Senate version of the bill, which
>prevailed Wednesday, provided that the ban would expire in four years, allowing
>lawmakers to revisit the issue. The next Legislature meets in 2009 and could
>vote to take up the issue then.
>
>"We did not want to be the first in offering young girls for the experiment to
>see if this vaccine is effective or not," said Representative Dennis H. Bonnen,
>a Republican from Angleton, who sponsored the ban in the House.
>
>The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among other health
>authorities, describe Gardasil as safe and effective when given as approved to
>girls ages 9 to 26 in three shots over eight months.
>
>Some Texas political analysts said Governor Perry had miscalculated.
>
>Harvey Kronberg, editor of the legislative Web site Quorum Report, said the
>governor had failed to consult his two leading fellow Republicans, Lt. Gov.
>David Dewhurst, who presides over the Senate, and the House speaker, Tom
>Craddick.
>
>"This kind of imperiousness offended his base," Mr. Kronberg said.
>
>Bill Miller, an Austin lobbyist close to the Republican leadership, said the
>mixture of “under-age girls, cancer and sex” had proven too volatile.
