Circus - Rant

Happened to be out with the Pixie one day and took this photo. Actually, it was the day of the final World Cup game. The odd thing about the day was that there were virtually no people on the streets of Seattle.

Rant Warning!!! Have you heard of HPV otherwise known as human papilloma virus? It’s an STD. You should know about it, since something like fifty percent of women 18-22 years of age develop the infection after sexual contact. The numbers go up after that to the point that most doctors will tell you that by the age of 30, male or female, you're likely to have or have encountered HPV. Epidemic? Anyway, for some women, the infection persists, impacts reproductive health and can lead to cervical cancer. From the American Cancer Society, "About 3,700 women will die from cervical cancer in the United States during 2006. Cervical cancer was once one of the most common causes of cancer death for American women."

I give you this background because, once again, conservative religious folks - the catholic church – doesn’t think a new HPV vaccine is a good idea even though it has a really high success rate. If administered before sexual contact and any potential infection, a variety of new vaccines currently in development are capable of virtually 100 percent effectiveness against HPV. No HPV means less cancer later and certainly less transmission in the present. The rub for the church is that the vaccine, to be effective, must be administered to young girls, and to the church, this means promoting promiscuity. PS, the vaccine has no effect on folks who are currently infected. Sorry.

Here is the grit. Religious conservatives want to impact your sexual and reproductive health by blocking a vaccine that could prove effective against the most prevalent STD out there. By blocking the vaccines use, they are attempting to limit your choice for a safer alternative if you should choose to have sex prior to marriage. By blocking the use of this family of vaccines, they are condemning yet another generation of women to HPV, reproductive challenges, and potentially cancer. And dudes, by blocking vaccines such as these, religious conservatives, will be praying for you and the warts on you cock. Yes, HPV also causes the dreaded male and female genital wart.