Hpv

The controversy over sexual education in schools and having a high availability of birth-control to teenagers has been an issue for over a decade. Many different religious and parental groups have fought what liberals are considering a sort of sexual awakening and acceptance. It is no wonder, then, that a new vaccination offered to both girls and boys preventing a common sexually transmitted disease (STD) has caused a dramatic controversy- especially when many state government officials are considering making this vaccination mandatory for young teens. The vaccine, shown to prevent most types of human papilloma virus (HPV), has newly been approved by the FDA. The significance of the vaccine is great because while HPV can at best only cause a few genital warts if anything at all, the worst-case scenario is the development of Cervical Cancer in women (515). This information alone would seemingly justify the importance of the vaccination in itself; however, many continue to argue the moral aspects of forcing such a drug on young teens, saying the government is breaking constitutional rights. Furthermore, religious groups are arguing that mandating the vaccine breaks separation of church and state laws, and conservative parents believe that giving a vaccine to their son or daughter fighting a STD will undermine their sexual abstinence teachings.

The government of the United States has many responsibilities, but one of the most important of these has to be their protection of public health. In such medical cases as Polio and Measles, it has become common practice to mandate vaccines, and this mandating has almost if not completely eliminated both diseases in our country. Even Hepatitis shots are mandated for children entering pubic schools, to make the society safe and well to the best of the nation's ability. How, then, can one fight a vaccine offering an even greater public health? If this vaccine is the ticket to eliminating HPV and, in unison, many cases of Cervical Cancer, then is it not crucial that we as a nation stand behind it? This is not a case of the government overstepping boundaries, but merely of the United States Government fighting to ensure the longevity of its citizens.

To say that the law of separation between church and state is being violated is, in this case,