Political & Elections

longprime · Guru

RE: Progressives have too much time on their hands...

SamuraiLandshark · Guru

I get that, Cartera. This is a costly vaccine, no matter how you cut it. If you have insurance for it, few girls are going to go to the doctor and get the vaccine without their parents. When we were between insurance, the cost per shot was $180 for each of the three round dose.

Planned Parenthood might be an option, but you needed three of them in certain sequence.

How many twelve year olds who are sexually active are thinking that far ahead? Honestly?

Some of these cherubs think if you drink Mountain Dew before sex it works as birth control. Others think that if they stand up right after sex they won't get pregnant. Or if it's their first time, they are protected.

If they are going to the clinic for birth control at age 12 and need it, more power to them. The more likely scenario is that they aren't thinking ahead for birth control OR reproductive health to prevent them from getting cervical cancer. When they do go to the clinic, it's going to be to get a pregnancy test, a termination or an HPV test.

Sorry to be blunt, but that's the reality.

The other issue is that, let's say they are proactive enough to grab their insurance card, assuming that it's their own card (ie, Kaiser) and plan and book an appointment. They go to the visit. They pay their co-pay, if asked. They get public transportation to their doctor's office. They get their shot and schedule their next two visits over the next 6 months.

3 weeks later, one of their parents is going to open the health insurance EOS form and see that they got this vaccine. You don't think that's going to open a can of worms?

It's not going to be completely private, is it?

I have worked with kids from K-12, and some of these kids cannot even remember to bring their pencils to school...or their homework. I doubt if HPV vaccines are even really on their radar, even if they are in health class and learn about it.

Not trying to be cynical. I simply don't see how allowing 12 year olds to get this vaccine without parents consent is going to be a good thing or that it will even affect all that many girls. It does, however, send a message that parents aren't that important in this process.

There is a risk to any medication. My daughter had the flu shot with me, at a flu shot clinic and the person administering the shot was pretty worried because she had a reaction to it. With the HPV vaccine, there can be side effects.

What happens if the 12 year old unaccompanied by an adult has serious side effects from the shot? It can happen.

Cartera · Guru

In my mind, it has to do with kids not wanting to share with their parents that they are sexually active. They will risk their health rather than let their parents know they are having sex. This takes that out of the equation.

If a young girl decides she is ready to have sex but thinks it would be a good idea to have the HPV vaccine first, she can do that without garnering the scorn of her parents. Requiring parental consent is likely not going to stop the girl from having sex. It may well stop her from trying to protect herself from HPV.

Some consequences are really dire when parents find out their kids are having sex - even more so when they find out they are pregnant. As sad as it is, some kids need to be protected from their own parents.

SamuraiLandshark · Guru

They can't get their ears pierced without parental consent, either. Or get a driver's license.

They also can't get a FLU vaccine without a parent's consent.

But they can get the HPV vaccine or terminate a pregnancy in the State of California.

hope · Guru

Kids can't use a tanning bed until they are 18, but they can get the HPV vaccine without parental consent when they are 12.

New Law Allows Minors to Receive STD Treatment Without Consent

KTLA News

5:01 p.m. PDT, October 9, 2011

SACRAMENTO (KTLA) -- Gov. Jerry Brown tackled a cluster of bills Sunday, among them a law that will now allow minors to get vaccinated for sexually transmitted diseases without their parents' consent.

Authored by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), AB499 will let minors as young as 12 the power to seek medical treatment for the human papillomavirus, which has been linked to certain cancers, precancerous cervical cell changes and genital warts.

The HPV vaccine consists of a series of three injections over a six-month period.

Sign up for KTLA 5 Breaking News Email Alerts

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cervical cancer is the second leading cancer killer of women in the world and nearly 70 percent of cases are linked to strains of HPV that can be treated by vaccines.

The CDC has recently recommended that girls begin treatment as young as 11 in order to increase the likelihood of vaccination before having sexual contact
Under the new bill, minors will also be allowed to receive other STD prevention treatments.

California now joins a list of states embroiled in a national debate over child vaccinations, including Texas, where Governor and presidential hopeful Rick Perry has recently taken criticism for attempting to pass a similar law in 2007.

Brown also passed a bill Sunday that would ban the use of tanning beds by anyone under the age of 18.

The measure was backed by groups including the California STD Controllers Assn., the Health Officers Assn. of California, ACT for Women and Girls and the American Civil Liberties Union.

-- Edited by hope on Monday 10th of October 2011 04:25:27 PM