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Other vaccines are for diseases that are far, far more easily spread than HPV.

There are lots of diseases out there. But precious few of them have infected 80% of the female population of the United States by their 50th birthday. I don't think your argument holds water.

As for the sex-part, do you really expect that your daughter will never, in her life, have sex? If she does, the odds are good that she will get HPV if she isn't vaccinated. Abstinence isn't enough -- you have to teach your daughter lifetime abstinence if you want to significantly reduce her risk of HPV. That may work for your family, but there aren't enough spaces in the convents of the United States to handle a massive influx of new nuns.

No, I don't expect her to. And if she wants to get the vaccine herself, or if my younger (much) daughters and I feel they need it at some point, then yes, I will discuss it with them. My point is that the government shouldn't be mandating a vaccine for a virus like this. It isn't the government's job to do this or to make these decisions for my kids. It is mine. I can't expect perfection for my daughters, but I can expect, as an American that prefers smaller government, that these choices will be ours to make as a family as opposed to it being a mandatory thing that takes away from my ability to discuss the consequences of thoughtless action. If they decide they will not be abstinent, it is still a decision between me and my girls, not my girls and Merck.

Give it to your family but don't mandate it on mine. Our family is capable of making our own decisions after our own research. We will also discuss our decisions and findings with our pediatrician. This needs to have an opt in or opt out clause. As it stands now, it doesn't. As I stated earlier of the 150,000,000 women in this country and if I trust your 80% figure that carry the HPV virus, how many actually die from the cancer? Or are we trying to save people from themselves because they don't go to a doctor regularly to have a routine test that under most insurance plans is covered 100%.

More people die each year from obesity related illnesses, look around WV, they are everywhere. Yet all you can eat buffets are going unregulated!!!

From the CDC's own website:

http://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm

"All types of HPV can cause mild Pap test abnormalities which do not have serious consequences. Approximately 10 of the 30 identified genital HPV types can lead, in rare cases, to development of cervical cancer. Research has shown that for most women (90 percent), cervical HPV infection becomes undetectable within two years. Although only a small proportion of women have persistent infection, persistent infection with "high-risk" types of HPV is the main risk factor for cervical cancer."

And this:

"Because the vaccine does not protect against all types of HPV, it will not prevent all cases of cervical cancer or genital warts. About 30% of cervical cancers will not be prevented by the vaccine, so it will be important for women to continue getting screened for cervical cancer (regular Pap tests). Also, the vaccine does not prevent about 10% of genital warts—nor will it prevent other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). So it will still be important for sexually active adults to reduce exposure to HPV and other STIs."

So, using the CDC's own math, this vaccine would only prevent roughly 7,014 cases of cervical cancer. This doesn't seem epidemic to me, and it certainly doesn't seem to me that it warrants a mandatory vaccine? I don't think so.

I lost my mother to cancer, so before you go there, don't. If there had been a vaccine for non-hodgkins lymphoma, then I would still not have wanted it to be a mandatory thing for all Americans just because it would have saved her. Just like I would never tell my husband to not go to Iraq just because he might die over there.

There are lots of diseases out there. But precious few of them have infected 80% of the female population of the United States by their 50th birthday. I don't think your argument holds water.

Oh please. It's an almost totally benign "infection". A teeny percentage *might* get cancer decades down the road. Big deal. You're forgetting that the whole point of mandatory vaccinations for school kids is so that kids can go to school without catching deadly diseases while there. Nobody catches HPV in the classroom.