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Texas OKs cervical cancer shot as Colorado continues debate

Staff And Wire Reports

Published February 3, 2007 at midnight

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The governor of Texas signed an order Friday requiring schoolgirls to be vaccinated against cervical cancer.

A similar proposal is being considered in Colorado, but it's controversial.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry's executive order makes Texas the first state to require the series of three shots for middle-school girls.

In Colorado, Sen. Greg Brophy said he doesn't care what Texas' governor did - he still can't support a similar proposal here.

The Yuma Republican said he opposes Senate Bill 80, which is now in the Senate Appropriations Committee, because it basically requires schools to mandate the vaccination as a condition of enrollment.

Parents can choose to have their daughters kept out of the program, but Brophy said that's not good enough.

But House Minority Leader Mike May was cheered by what happened in Texas. The Parker Republican maintains the mandatory vaccine is a health issue, not a moral one.

Perry, who opposes abortion and stem-cell research using embryonic cells, counts on the religious right for his political base. But he has said the cervical cancer vaccine is no different from the one that protects children against polio.

The maker of the vaccine, Merck, is bankrolling efforts to pass state laws across the country mandating the vaccine. It doubled its lobbying budget in Texas and has funneled money through Women in Government.

Perry has several ties to Merck and Women in Government. He received $6,000 from Merck's political action committee during his re-election campaign.