Objections to, and acceptance
of, the Gardasil® HPV vaccine

In the United States: The U.S. government has been heavily funding abstinence only sex-education classes in high schools. In these classes, the dangers of sexual activity (unwanted pregnancy and STDs) are emphasized. However, no information is given to students on how to prevent pregnancy or STD transmissions. The result is that those students who decide to become sexually active or may become so in the future have no prevention information, except that which they might be able to pick upon on the Internet, from health units, peers, etc.

Many religious and social conservatives give an extremely high priority to teen celibacy and feel that abstinence only education is the way to achieve this. Being knowledgeable about the hazards of sexual behavior while being ignorant of prevention methods makes sex an extremely hazardous activity. Some feel that young women might feel safer after having received a HPV vaccine and so might be more inclined to risk engaging in sex.

However, there are other considerations to be made. Even if a young woman initially decides to be sexually inactive until marriage, she can still contract HPV:

	As a result of rape;
	As a result of "outercourse" -- close physical contact short of intercourse involving skin to skin contact;
	By marrying a man who is infected with HPV, as most potential husbands are; or
	By changing her mind and becoming sexually active and eventually having sex with someone infected with HPV.

As the Family Research Council states:

"... we also recognize that HPV infection can result from sexual abuse or assault, and that a person may marry someone still carrying the virus. These provide strong reasons why even someone practicing abstinence and fidelity may benefit from HPV vaccines." ₁

In those states where compulsory vaccination is not required for high school attendance, parents will have to individually decide which is the more troublesome concern:

	The possibility of their daughter dying from cervical cancer, or
	The unknown potential risk that she might become more sexually active as a result of having received the vaccination.

Obviously, it is of paramount importance for human sexuality researchers to investigate the degree -- if any -- by which sexual experimentation will increase among young women who are vaccinated against HPV. Religiously conservative parents desperately need this information in order to make this very important decision on behalf of their daughters. As of early 2007, surveys have shown that the risk of increased sexual activity is undetectably small or zero. However, these surveys may be biased. They have been conducted by pharmaceutical companies and public health groups whose prime motivation is saving lives. We have not been able to find any data from surveys sponsored by religious conservative groups.

Resistance to vaccination may prove to be a non-issue in the U.S. New Scientist magazine reported in 2005-APR that Greg Zimet of Indiana University in Indianapolis, IL is optimistic. "His surveys in the US show parents overwhelmingly favor getting their daughters vaccinated. 'Doctors tend to fear the worst,' he says." ₂

In Canada: Acceptance of the vaccine is expected to be higher than in the U.S., if for no other reason than the presence of a lower percentage of religious conservatives in the country. A pilot survey of 73 girls aged 13 to 17 and 73 of their parents in Nova Scotia indicated that over 75% would accept it. The study found that 30% of the girls were sexually active, with a mean age for first sexual experience of 14.5. Monique MacFarlane Conrad, who led the study by the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology in Halifax said: "The findings were actually quite similar between both parents and teenagers. There was overwhelming approval for the vaccine."   MacFarlane Conrad, a third-year medical student at Dalhousie University said: "There were very few people who said, 'No, no way.' Those who said 'maybe,' what they wanted was clarification, what they wanted was more information, particularly from their doctor. If their doctor said it was safe and they could be reassured that this vaccine was necessary . . . then they would accept it." Focus on the Family, Canada published a generally positive comment on the HPV vaccine on 2006-JUN-09. They wrote: " 'The possibility of an ethically produced vaccine [against HPV] is good news,' added Focus on the Family Canada senior vice-president Derek Rogusky. 'However, it is important that parents and families be given the choice of whether or not they will make use of this new product, when and if it is approved for use in Canada. Regardless of the availability of an HPV vaccine, sexual abstinence and marital faithfulness remain the best preventative measures for HPV and sexually transmitted infections'." 3

Elsewhere in the world: The situation may be very different. Resistance to the vaccine may be high. Anne Szarewski of the charity Cancer Research UK was involved in one of the vaccine trials in England. She found: "... that some Asian women in Britain are afraid even to get tested for HPV infection, because they say if it is positive they will be killed, never mind that their husbands probably gave it to them." She feels that such attitudes may mean that HPV vaccination may be a non-starter in such communities. 2 There is still another ethical consideration concerning the HPV vaccine: will it be made available to women in non-developed countries at an affordable cost?

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