By Catholic News Service
SAN FRANCISCO — California’s Catholic bishops have urged Catholics in their state to contact lawmakers and ask them to vote against a bill removing parental rights to a teen vaccination against sexually transmitted diseases.
The bill, which already passed in the state Assembly and is currently before the state Senate, would remove the parental consent requirement for vaccinating children 12 and older and would allow children to be given Gardasil vaccine intended to prevent human papillomavirus, or HPV — a virus that can cause cervical cancer.
The vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006 and is recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nationally, 91 deaths and more than 21,000 adverse reactions have been attributed to Gardasil, said a legislative alert distributed by the California Catholic Conference that cited figures released in January by the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.
Minors do not have adequate judgment to make a decision about this vaccine, the alert said.
[Note from SaneVax: We believe it is a parent’s right and responsibility to decide what the best choices are when it comes to the health and well-being of their family. No one knows the children’s health history better than their parents. Any medical intervention carries with it certain risks for some individuals – no medical treatment, including vaccines, are a one size fits all proposition.]
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