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How many women reading this blog have gotten the three Gardasil shots? If you haven’t gotten it yet, schedule an appointment with your doctor and get it. Gardasil can help prevent cervical cancer and four types of HPV. As of right now, it’s the only vaccine (in the world!) of it’s kind. The CDC recommends that women ages 9-26 get Gardasil.
According to their website:
HPV is a common virus
- HPV is a virus that can affect both men and women.
- HPV usually has no signs or symptoms, so many people don't know they have it or that they could pass it on to others.
- About 80% of women will have had HPV by the time they are 50 years old.*
HPV and cervical cancer
- For most women exposed to HPV, the virus will clear on its own, but for some, cervical cancer and other diseases—like genital warts—can develop.
- Most of the women diagnosed with cervical cancer were exposed to HPV in their teens and 20s.
- Regular Pap tests and wellness visits are the best ways to help protect against HPV and cervical cancer.
CONTROVERSY:
Now, Gardasil sounds like a must-do, right? I mean, why wouldn’t you want to protect yourselves from getting cancer or HPV? But plenty of conservative organizations claim Gardasil might actually encourage your daughter to engage in sexual activity. So basically, this conservative outcry revolves around whether or not you want your daughter to protected from cervical cancer. Afterall, this vaccine would mean that she could…*gasp*…have sex….
Now, Gardasil sounds like a must-do, right? I mean, why wouldn’t you want to protect yourselves from getting cancer or HPV? But plenty of conservative organizations claim Gardasil might actually encourage your daughter to engage in sexual activity. So basically, this conservative outcry revolves around whether or not you want your daughter to protected from cervical cancer. Afterall, this vaccine would mean that she could…*gasp*…have sex….
But statistically speaking, young teens are having sex. They have been having sex. And they will continue to have sex. It appalls me that these conservative organizations, especially strong in Texas, could protest against a vaccine that could keep young women healthy from disease.
Charlotte Allen, a leading member of the Independent Women’s Forum (which has such a misleading name, by the way), wrote that Gardasil encourages girls to believe “it’s just fine for them to have all the sex they want, ‘cuz now they’ll be vaccinated!”
You’re right, Charlotte Allen. We should put these girls and young women at risk of CANCER to scare them from having sex.
It just doesn’t make much sense to me. Young women everywhere: go get vaccinated!
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by Anatic09
The conservative scare-tactics on this issue are so ridiculous. They act like Gardasil is some form of brith control, which it definitely is not. Their argument really doesn't make any sense.
And I also definitely agree that most if not all conservative organizations are poorly named. If they were really interested in "speaking the truth," they would start by giving themselves an honest name.
There are other ways besides this vaccine to protect against cervical cancer, but I'll go into that in a later post...