Bill That Rescinds Executive Order Mandating HPV Vaccine For Texas Middle School Girls Becomes Law After Gov. Perry Withholds Veto

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) on Tuesday announced that he will not veto a bill (HB 1098) that will prevent mandatory human papillomavirus vaccination for middle school girls in the state until 2011, allowing the measure to become law without his signature, the Houston Chronicle reports (Elliott, Houston Chronicle, 5/9). Late last month, the state House voted 135-2 to pass the bill, and the Senate voted 30-1 to pass the legislation (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 4/26). According to the Dallas Morning News, a two-thirds majority necessary to override a potential veto by Perry was "virtually assured" (Hoppe, Dallas Morning News, 5/9).

Perry on Feb. 2 issued an executive order mandating that all girls entering the sixth grade beginning in September 2008 receive an HPV vaccine. Perry has said the executive order would allow parents who do not want their daughters to receive an HPV vaccine "for reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs," to opt out of the requirement. Under the executive order, girls and women ages nine to 21 who are eligible for public assistance will be able to receive Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil at no cost beginning immediately (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 4/26).

Perry Comments, Reaction
During a news conference on Tuesday in which Perry was joined by women affected by HPV, the governor said, "In the next year, more than a thousand women will likely be diagnosed with this insidious and yet mostly preventable disease," adding, "I challenge legislators to look these women in the eyes and tell them, 'We could have prevented this disease for your daughters and granddaughters, but we just didn't have the gumption to address all the misguided and misleading political rhetoric'" (Houston Chronicle, 5/9). He said that with voluntary programs, only about 25% of young women will receive the vaccine, compared with a 95% compliance rate under mandatory policies. "A debate which affects real lives has been hijacked by politics and posturing," Perry said, adding, "I have never seen so much misinformation spread about a vital public health issue" (Dallas Morning News, 5/9).

State Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R), author of the bill, said, "The governor has missed the point," adding, "Just because you don't want to offer up 165,000 11-year-old girls to be Merck's study group doesn't mean you don't care about women's health, doesn't mean you don't care about young girls" (MacLaggan, Austin American-Statesman, 5/9). Bonnen said that it is "offensive that the governor wants to use cancer victims as his backdrop for an issue that he has grossly misjudged." State Sen. Jane Nelson (R) said, "I believe the Legislature is doing what needs to be done to help better educate the public" and help prevent HPV. She added that education, not a mandate, is the key to halting the spread of cervical cancer (Austin Peterson, AP/KRISTV, 5/8).

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