In last weeks presidential debate Michele Bachmann went after Governor Rick Perry for mandating a vaccine against cervical cancer for school girls in Texas, while he was in office. The next day Michele Bachmann was the joke of several comedians, after she claimed that a woman thanked her for standing up against this vaccine in the debate, since it supposedly caused retardation in that women’s daughter.
While I wished that Bachmann had vetted this story more carefully, I do not understand public reactions against her. I think more people should stand up against government interference in our health-care decisions and parental rights.
Last year I was mandated to give my daughter some booster shot. At the same time a health care professional recommended Gardasil for my then 12 year old daughter. I listened, but then politely told her to stick to the mandatory shots and save the Gardasil for someone else. It was a conscious decision. I am now glad that I didn’t live in Texas during Perry’s reign, because I don’t take mandatory Health Care decisions imposed by the Government very lightly, especially since the common folks will not get fully educated of possible side effects and long term risks of vaccination. I wouldn’t even give my children a chickenpox if it wasn’t mandated by the state because of the mercury which used to be in those shots.
The Cervical Cancer Risk Is Low
According to the National Cancer Institute 8.1 women in a 100 000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year. 0.68 women born today can expect to have a cervical cancer diagnose in their lifetime or in other words 1 in 147 women. Time Magazine reported in 2007 that 80 % of all women will have had the HPV (human papillomavirus) by age 50 at some point. In most cases the female body is able to fight of the HPV within two years without causing any further problems at all. However 70 % of all cervical cancer causes are caused by two strains of the HPV Virus. Gardasil protects against those two strains and Cervarix protects against four strains of the HPV Virus.
But Time Magazine ads:
“Overall, only a small percentage of women who have had persistent infections with even the high-risk HPV strains are at risk for cancer“.
Protecting Myself from the HPV Virus
If 80 percent of all women are infected by the HPV Virus at some point in their life time by the age of 50 and only 0.68 women born today are expected to have Cervical Cancer during their life time it would make sense to focus on protecting myself against the virus instead of focusing on the cervical cancer part. According to pub Med Health, (a government sponsored websites) the risk factors of developing cervical cancer caused by the HPV Virus are having sex at an early age, multiple sex partners, sex partners who have multiple sex partners, a weakened immune system and poor economic status (being unable to afford Pap Smears). Under those circumstances it would make more sense to teach my daughter about the health risks (physical and mentally) of sexual intercourse in general including unprotected sex.
Side Effects of Cervical Cancer Vaccine
It blows my mind that the media trusts pharmaceutical companies, which make billions of dollars, more then listening to a concerned mother of three girls, who happens to run for President. The ridicule Michele Bachmann endured for standing up against government intervention in my privacy and parental rights and decisions just makes me speechless. While she was wrong with the mental retardation part here are some side effects listed by the makers themselves on the Gardasil website. Minor effects include fever, pain on the injection side, Headache and Nausea. Then we get to vomiting, muscle pain and dizziness. Of course they are also reports on their website of fewer, paralysis and allergic reactions. And finally there is a chance of you developing blood clots, seizures, asthma and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) which can lead to infertility. Keep in mind that not every reaction is reported by the doctor to the pharmaceutical company and thought of being caused by something else. According to yourlawyer.com 3.461 complaints have been filed against Gardasil. The reports about fainting after this vaccines are going up from 50 to 230 cases. 28 women have miscarried. 3 young women in the U.S. and 2 young women in Europe died shortly after receiving the vaccine. He says that Gardasil may also be linked to developing ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) according to Webmd. And if the information of this lawyer still doesn’t convince you that Michele Bachmann may be on to something please read this personal blog by K Krasnow Waterman who saw those side effects first hand. This blog was visited by readers whose daughters experienced similar effects (especially seizures) shortly after receiving this vaccine, as you can read in the many comments.
In the end as a conservative I truly believe that parents and individuals of age should have the right to make informed decisions about their health care and are fully capable of weighing the risks versus the benefits of a certain vaccine themselves. Michele Bachmann’s stand for individual rights should not be ridiculed but rather then applauded.