Marriage Is Magic!

I learned something this week - apparently marriage has special germ-repellant properties.  I'm referring to the recent "controversy" from some conservative christian activists about the new cervical cancer vaccine.  These activists are opposed to the idea of vaccinating 12-year-old girls against HPV, the virus that causes (most cases) cervical cancer.  These activist are concerned that vaccinating girls will encourage pre-marital sex.

First of all, it's a pretty nutty idea to suggest that the possibility that you'll get cervical cancer in 20 yrs. somehow discourages pre-marital sex.  However, I'm really hung up on the idea that HPV only occurs from "pre-marital" sex.

As far as I know, married women also get HPV.  The virus is not a smart virus, it doesn't recognize the type of sex you're having - whether it's the approved kind of sex of our "moral arbiters."  One thing I've learned in my life is that there is one person's actions you can control - your own.  By not vaccinating girls against this terrible, preventable disease, you're outsourcing their health to the men in their life.  

Notice, I said men.  According to recent polls, >95% of Americans have had pre-marital sex.  And considering the divorce rate, the great majority of Americans have more than one partner in their lifetime.  I agree that having a committed, monogamous relationship lessens your chances of getting STDs, but it is not guaranteed.

These activists are judging the disease by the way it is transmitted.  To them I say - just stop it.  STDs do not discriminate - they affect gay people and straight people, women and men, married and single, Christian or not.  Let me make this clear, no one deserves this disease.  That's why we should do everything we can to prevent people from getting this disease.