Attack on World’s First Cancer Vaccine
The FDA has approved vaccines against two strains of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which together account for about 70% of cervical cancer cases. This vaccine has the potential to save the lives of 270,000 women a year worldwide, yet is being opposed by abstinence activists who would rather expose women to the risks of cancer than lose a scare tactic in their mission to promote abstinence.
Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women and kills over a quarter of a million women each year throughout the world. The Center for Disease Control predicts that this year in the United States alone 10,000 women will develop cervical cancer and over one third of them will die. The women at greatest risk are those in developing countries, or with low incomes, who often lack access to preventative care like routine PAP smears.
The HPV vaccine has the potential to save millions of women’s lives, yet it is opposed by abstinence activists who irrationally believe that such a vaccine will encourage extramarital sex. Tony Perkins of the anti-choice organization ‘Family Research Council’ claimed that a cancer vaccine “sends the wrong message”* while Leslie Unruh, founder of the ‘National Abstinence Clearinghouse’ which is both anti-choice and anti-contraception, falsely claimed that HPV is “100 percent preventable with proper sexual behavior.”* Furthermore, abstinence-only advocates particularly oppose the administration of the vaccine to young girls, ignoring the fact that the vaccine is most effective when administered to girls before they become sexually active.
In reality, HPV can be transmitted by a single sexual encounter within a monogamous relationship, and the only message an HPV vaccine sends is that the leading cause of cervical cancer can now be prevented. The misinformation campaigns of these anti-choice organizations pose a clear threat to the health of our nation’s girls and women.
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