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These women could prevent getting cervical cancer if they went in for routine pap smears, as all women are recommended to do. Does this small percentage support mandating the vaccine? Would the chickenpox vaccine be required if only 3.4% of children got it? Probably not.

If you look at the other vaccinations on the required list, you'll notice there's a big difference between HPV and the rest. Unlike polio or mumps HPV can be avoided in different ways with different lifestyles. You can catch the measles or chickenpox by going to school and being around other kids, but HPV isn't spread that way. The strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer are solely transmitted through sexual contact. By practicing safe sex methods, your chances of getting HPV go down. If you and your partner have never been with anyone else, your chances are nonexistent. Also, not smoking tobacco reduces your risks of developing cervical cancer. Why should there be a mandatory vaccine for something that can be naturally avoided?

The Oprah Winfrey Show recently featured the HPV controversy. A woman in the audience made the point that children aren't required to be protected from side effects of smoking, drinking, or drugs so why require children to be protected against a virus that is a side effect of irresponsible sex? Antabuse is a drug sometimes given to alcoholics it makes them extremely sick whenever they drink alcohol. It creates a negative association with alcohol use and can prevent alcoholism. If a vaccine for HPV is mandatory, shouldn't states also require this "vaccine" for alcoholism?

However, supporters in favor of mandating the vaccine argue that a vaccine against cervical cancer is a good thing, so why not require it? A Wisconsin citizen wrote an editorial for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She writes that, "Given the proven ability of the so-called HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer and the strong support by federal medical experts and public health officials, it makes sense to require schoolgirls be vaccinated..." This is a weak argument. Several vaccines are positive medical accomplishments, so why not make those mandatory too? Why not make the flu shot mandatory? Requiring every vaccination on the market is just not how it's done, but this fact is being blatantly overlooked.

Dr. Marie Savard talked about mandating the HPV vaccine on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Of course she thought it was a good idea for girls to get vaccinated, but her main argument for making it mandatory

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