HPV Vaccinations Are Rising

Last year, Gov. Perry acted out of character and actually did something that would help the citizens of Texas. He mandated that all young girls in Texas receive the HPV vaccine to protect them from getting the HPV virus and possibly cervical cancer.

Of course the right-wing nuts in Texas got upset. To them, if you protected a girl from getting the virus, that meant all the young girls would immediately run out and have sex. The idea was stupid, but that's never stopped the right-wing before.

The Republicans in the Texas legislature reacted to the weird concerns of their right-wing base, and overturned the governor's mandate. But it looks like the controversy raised by the governor's action may have gotten the word out about the vaccine.

Doctors at the Uinversity of Texas Medical Branch Pediatric Clinic say that since the controversy, parents seem to have gotten the word about the vaccine, and they are coming in to request their daughters be vaccinated -- currently they are averaging about 60 vaccinations a month.

UTMB vice chair for clinical services Chris Turley said, "It's really kind of an interesting thing -- the controversy has really helped us get the word out. We really do have moms coming and asking for it....People forget about the tetanus shot because it's been around forever, but they come in knowing about this and wanting it for their daughters."

So while the governor wasn't able to protect all the young Texas girls because of the actions of his Republican cohorts, it looks like his actions may have at least helped many of them.

Maybe a new legislature in 2009 can protect the rest.