For Immediate Release Contact: Martin Cothran
February 22, 2007

House Speaker Jody Richards turns down attempt to make HPV vaccination optional

LEXINGTON, KY. —House Speaker Jody Richards today ruled out of order an amendment that would have made a bill mandating HPV vaccinations optional. Supporters of the House Bill 345 argued that the bill, which required that a new drug that prevents the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) be administered to young girls before going to middle school, was not a mandate. But when Rep. David Floyd (R-Nelson) tried to amend the bill to State lawmakers voted down an attempt to make a bill mandating the HPV vaccination “Gardasil” optional, Speaker Richards ruled it out of order.

Rep. Floyd’s bill would have replaced the word “require” with “recommend”, making the bill truly optional, as its sponsors claimed that it was. Richards, surprisingly, ruled that the amendment had nothing to do with the bill.

“It was very disappointing to see the Speaker use his position like this and prevent someone from taking the supporters of this bill at their word—and to turn back an attempt to protect parental rights,” said Martin Cothran, senior policy analyst with The Family Foundation of Kentucky. The bill was eventually passed 59-38.

During the debate, State Rep. Kathy Stein accused The Family Foundation of misrepresenting the bill. Stein said The Foundation had opposed the bill because the vaccine had to do with sex. “Some groups have tried to make this out as a moral balancing act,” she said.

“Rep. Stein should practice what she preaches,” responded Martin Cothran, senior policy analyst for The Family Foundation. “If she doesn’t like misrepresentation, she should not engage in it herself. Rep. Stein continues to assert that the opposition to her bill has to do with sex and religion, when, in fact, all the arguments we have made against the bill have to do with parental rights and safety.”

Cothran also questioned Rep. Stein’s assertion that the bill was not a mandate. “If it isn’t a mandate, then why was she opposed to an amendment that would have made it optional? In fact, one of the arguments for the bill is that if the vaccine is not mandatory it won’t be covered by insurance. But, if the bill is not a mandate, then why would insurance companies cover the vaccine if the bill passes? First they say that it is not a mandate and then they say that it is. Besides the vast majority of insurance plans already cover the vaccine.”

The Foundation has always been in favor of making the vaccine available, but that it shouldn’t be required.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Allison Haley, Communications Director
February 22, 2007

Democratic-controlled Kentucky House

passes legislation to protect young women from cervical cancer

Bill passage is part of Democrats’ Commitment to Kentucky Families

FRANKFORT – Today Kentucky’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives took steps to protect Kentucky’s young women from the virus that causes most types of cervical cancer by passing a bill requiring immunization against the virus.

HB 345, sponsored by freshman Democratic legislator and physician David Watkins of Henderson, requires immunization of middle school-aged women against human papillomavirus (HPV), unless their parents submit a written objection. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that can cause genital warts and, in some cases, cervical cancer. The bill passed with 59 Democrats voting for the bill and 39 Republicans voting against it.

By voting against this bill, Republicans in the House voiced their intention to keep Kentucky’s youth at risk of a potentially life-threatening disease.

Watkins called the vaccine a miracle and urged other members of the House to recognize it as such. He said he felt it would save many women from suffering from cancer, a condition he has seen first hand in his patients.

“As a husband and father of five daughters, I am so pleased that this bill passed the House today. It is a necessary weapon in the fight against cervical cancer and I believe it is a very progressive step towards better women’s health in Kentucky,” Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Lundergan said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Approximately 20 million people in the United States are currently infected with HPV. The disease affects at least 50 percent of sexually active men and women at some time in their life.

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Paid for by the Kentucky Democratic Party; Jerry Lundergan, Chair, David Tandy, Treasurer.