Margaret A. Bengs
The Sacramento Bee
9/28/2011
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is being castigated in the presidential primary for his 2007 executive order mandating a vaccine for the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV, for girls entering sixth grade, unless their parents opted out, an order overturned by the Texas Legislature.
Now Gov. Jerry Brown must decide whether to sign or veto California’s version, Assembly Bill 499 – a more egregious trampling of parental rights than Perry’s order because it drives decisions made by children as young as 12 underground – pushing parents out completely.
AB 499, authored by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, and recently passed by the Legislature, “authorizes a minor, who is 12 years of age or older, to consent to medical care related to the prevention of a sexually transmitted disease.” Under the bill the state can dispense Gardasil, a vaccine that protects against certain strains of HPV, the most common sexually transmitted disease, to children as young as 12 without the permission of their parents.
In 2007, California parents said “no” to mandatory Gardasil vaccinations for children in legislation backed by pharmaceutical giant Merck, which manufactures the vaccine. Now proponents are pushing an end run around parents – going to the kids instead.
Why?…
The editorial continues at The Sacramento Bee.
CAJ note: According to Free Republic, Governor Brown signed this bill into law along with dozens of others. Read the eye-opening article, Governor Brown Does More Damage.
