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HOUSTON, Feb. 2 — Texas on Friday became the first state to require all 11- and 12-year-old girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.
Averting a potentially divisive debate in the Legislature, Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, signed an executive order mandating shots of the Merck vaccine Gardasil as protection against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, starting in September 2008.
Mr. Perry’s action, praised by health advocates, caught many by surprise in a largely conservative state where sexual politics is often a battleground.
-- Ralph Blumenthal for The New York Times
Every once in a while my Texas surprises me, but then the Lone Star State has shown from time to time a healthy pragmatic streak that can cut across all the Jesus love.
Apparently, there is some suggestion that a pecuniary motive may have been involved in the decision anent a tie between a lobbyist for Merck and the governor, but one is happy to let that be drowned out by such praises as this:
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HOUSTON, Feb. 2 — Texas on Friday became the first state to require all 11- and 12-year-old girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.
Averting a potentially divisive debate in the Legislature, Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, signed an executive order mandating shots of the Merck vaccine Gardasil as protection against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, starting in September 2008.
Mr. Perry’s action, praised by health advocates, caught many by surprise in a largely conservative state where sexual politics is often a battleground.
-- Ralph Blumenthal for The New York Times
Every once in a while my Texas surprises me, but then the Lone Star State has shown from time to time a healthy pragmatic streak that can cut across all the Jesus love.
Apparently, there is some suggestion that a pecuniary motive may have been involved in the decision anent a tie between a lobbyist for Merck and the governor, but one is happy to let that be drowned out by such praises as this:
The Texas Freedom Network, a nonpartisan advocacy group often critical of Mr. Perry, issued a statement praising his move. “Today’s decision by the governor is not just a positive step forward in efforts to promote women’s health,” said the group’s president, Kathy Miller. “It is also an important acknowledgment that health and science should not be held hostage to politics and ideology.”In an age when we are usually disappointed and cynical about politics and our politicians, we have to appreciate it whenever we get good results, by whatever route they are achieved.
