Michigan may force girls to get vaccine
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  Michigan may force girls to get vaccine
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Author Topic: Michigan may force girls to get vaccine  (Read 547 times)
Queen Mum Inks.LWC
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« on: September 16, 2006, 08:30:37 PM »

See the post here for details, mainly, should the state of MI mandate girls to get this vaccine?

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=45099.0

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http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060913/LIFESTYLE03/609130383/1005/LIFESTYLE

Mich. may force girls to get vaccine
Sixth-graders would be required to get shot to prevent cervical cancer.
Gary Heinlein / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

LANSING -- Michigan would become the first state to require girls entering sixth grade to receive a vaccine that can prevent cervical cancer, under legislation introduced Tuesday in the Michigan Senate.

Although all 11 women senators support the bill, and Gov. Jennifer Granholm supports the concept, passage may not be a slam dunk.

Some conservative religious groups oppose the vaccine for young girls, fearing it would lead to promiscuity.

And some parents aren't comfortable with having it forced upon them.

"I'm a 'keep-your-laws-off-my-body' type of person," said Ann Arbor mom Liz Fall, 42.

Fall said she likely will get vaccinations for her four daughters, who range in age from 6 to 11. But since the vaccine is new, she wants time to consult with her doctor.

"They should legislate giving information about it, and then let parents make informed decisions together with their personal physicians," she said.

Chris Eidson, a Madison Heights father of girls ages 10 and 11, doesn't like the legislation. But he will strongly consider the vaccine to protect his children. He and his wife, Melissa, agree on that.

"Do I want politicians deciding for me? Absolutely not," said Eidson, 40, who owns a glass-repair firm. "It's probably a great thing, but let me do the research, let me make the decisions."

Christina Woods, whose two daughters are 7 and 13 years old, approves of the effort to add the anti-cancer vaccine to the regimen of school inoculations.

"To be completely required might cause problems for some people, but I would do it for my daughters," said Woods, 36, who lives in Warren and works as an office manager-executive assistant for the Detroit Area Agency on Aging.

The bill would become effective for the 2007-08 school year. It was introduced by Sen. Beverly Hammerstrom, R-Temperance.

"Recent studies have shown that cervical cancer may be one of the few cancers that is actually preventable," Hammerstrom said.

"This vaccine will serve as our most effective tool in the fight against cervical cancer."

The vaccine, recently federally approved for girls and women between the ages of 9 and 26, would be aimed at sixth-graders because they are on the verge of adolescence.

Hammerstrom estimated the vaccine would be needed for 72,000 girls in the first year the new law is in effect. As with other school-required vaccines, families would obtain it through personal physicians or public health clinics.

Hammerstrom said for about two-thirds of the girls, private health insurers would pick up the tab. Medicaid and Michigan's MIChild program would pick up others' costs.

The vaccine is recommended by the Federal Advisory Commission on Immunization Practices for girls who are 11 and 12, and as appropriate for other age groups.

The American Cancer Society estimates that about 9,700 girls and women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer in the United States this year and that 3,700 will die from it. The vaccine, called Gardasil, protects against strains of the human papillomavirus that cause most cervical cancer cases. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection.

"The wonderful thing about this (vaccine) is that, in trials, it was 100 percent effective against HPV16 and HPV18, and those two account for 70 percent of the cases of cervical cancer," Hammerstrom said.

As with other required vaccines in Michigan, families could opt out of HPV inoculations for medical, religious or philosophical reasons.

Hammerstrom, who can't run for re-election due to term limits, hopes her bill will be passed by the end of the year. She has been around the country, consulting with lawmakers about the issue, and said many states are considering such requirements.

Ari Adler, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, said Sikkema hasn't had a chance to talk about it in depth with Hammerstrom. It will go through the usual committee hearing process, he said.

Immunizations already are required against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis; polio; measles, mumps and rubella; Hepatitis B; and chickenpox.




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