Apr 23, 2007 3:48 pm US/Central
Senate Approves Bill Blocking Perry's HPV Order
AUSTIN (AP) ―
The Texas Senate approved a bill Monday that would bar state health officials from following Gov. Rick Perry's order requiring schoolgirls to be vaccinated against a cancer-causing sexually transmitted disease.
The bill was overwhelmingly approved by the Texas House last month. The House and Senate must now work out the differences between the two versions and can then send it to the governor. If Perry vetoes the bill, lawmakers could override it with a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate.
Perry made national headlines in February when he issued an executive order directing state health officials to require the HPV vaccine for girls starting sixth grade as of September 2008.
Merck & Co.'s Gardasil, the only HPV vaccine on the market, protects girls and women against strains of the virus that cause most cases of cervical cancer and genital warts.
Perry's order outraged lawmakers from both parties and much of his social conservative base, who questioned the vaccine's safety and efficacy and said the mandate intrudes too far into families' lives.
Passing the legislation sets a precedent that "we as a Legislature have a voice and we get to decide what vaccines are mandated in the state of Texas and which vaccines are not," Sen. Glenn Hegar said.
The bill approved by the House would permanently prohibit the state from adding the HPV vaccine to the list of shots required for school attendance. The Senate's version of the ban would expire in 2011.
Hegar, a Katy Republican who is sponsoring the bill in the Senate, said he strongly opposes mandating the HPV vaccine now or in the future. But he said lawmakers should revisit the issue down the road, when they have more information about the risks and benefits of the vaccine.
Sen. Leticia Van de Putte was the only senator to vote against the bill. The San Antonio Democrat had filed legislation to require the HPV vaccine long before Perry issued his order.
She unsuccessfully tried to amend the bill to make the ban expire in 2009, saying two years should give lawmakers plenty of time to step back from the hype and more fully evaluate the vaccine.
"I would ask that you consider the young women in this state, particularly those who are exposed to this virus and will eventually die of cervical cancer," she told her colleagues.
But Hegar said nothing would stop lawmakers from repealing the ban during the next biennial legislative session if they feel strongly about the issue.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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