Bachmann never fails to provide us with Gaily Beat fodder.
Last Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann announced during a debate, that Rick Perry’s 2007 mandate to vaccinate all 6th Grade girls in Texas against HPV was in short, a ludicrous idea.
Why? Because it was a “violation of liberty interest”. That and oh yeah, it probs led to retardation. Her criticism of the old mandate was rooted in her belief that it “endangered young girls who might experience negative side effects” stating that, “There is no second chance for these little girls if there is any dangerous consequences to their bodies.”
WTF. I know. Oh it gets better, the story’s not over yet. Obvs, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) corrected these false accusations, by negating the validity of the claims as well as showing some numbers:
Since the vaccine has been introduced, more than 35 million doses have been administered, and it has an excellent safety record.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that doctors “strongly recommend” that all girls around the age of 11 and 12 be vaccinated against HPV. No one wants Cervical Cancer, and sadly HPV is the origin of almost all cases.
via @abcnews
As a consequence of Bachmann’s ignorance/utter stupidity, some cool people decided to make a social comment or two about the issue as a whole.
Ayelet Waldman, wife of author Michael Chabon publicly announced on twitter that she had in fact gotten HPV from her husband, with whom she has maintained a monogamous relationship. The intention behind this proclamation was to prove to the prude, stiff assed conservative population why in essence, the HPV vaccine is important. This brave move which made me rise my fist in a ‘you go girl’ kind of way did not fly so well with others. Reactions consisted of multiple “OMG TMI!”s and blame of her prior infection being a result of her ‘Slut’-ness.
Jill at FeministeUS shared her feelings in this article:
If I told you that when I was little I got chicken pox from a kid at school — which I did! — no one is going to flip out about it. If a well-known writer tweets, “I got the flu from my husband and it fucking sucked and if I was older or didn’t have decent medical care or had a complicating health condition I could have died from that infection, and anyone who tries to block flu shots is an irresponsible fuckface,” people would be like, “Yeah.”
But Ayelet Waldman says she got one of the most common viruses in the United States from her husband and we’re all disgusted because… it’s sexually transmitted? And what, we’re all shocked that a mother of four who writes about how much she likes having sex with her husband has had sex? We think it’s way worse to transmit a disease sexually than by kissing or holding hands or touching a subway pole?
Here is some shocking news: People have sex. And when people have sex, body fluids sometimes mingle, and skin touches skin, and things get passed on. HPV, as it turns out, is a wily little fucker that gets passed on a whole lot. At least half of all sexually active people have it. By the age of 50, at least 80% of women will have HPV.
You go Sistah from anotha Mistah! In other H news, last Thursday in the States something really neat and long overdue happened. For the first time ever in the thirty years that have passed since the discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus, Congress created a bipartisan HIV/AIDS Caucus.
This is a big deal because…
…the group marks the first time Republicans have joined with Democrats to create a group aimed at eradicating AIDS…
House Democrat and member of the caucus, McDermott says:
“It makes a huge difference to have Republicans on board, and I’m really excited about that (…) As a physician, I traveled in Africa in ’87 to ’88, and I saw the disease firsthand, and what it was doing. But when I came to Congress [in 1989], no one was talking about this, and it was a gay man’s disease as far as anyone was concerned.”
McDermott also credits George W. Bush for having helped make Republicans ‘comfortable’ with speaking out about the AIDS epidemic with PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) during his administration.
As great as this recent development is, it is also a bit of a piss off that it took this long for them (mainly Republicans) to get their shit together. It’s like they’re saying, ‘Oh no one gives a flying f*ck if hundreds of gay men are dying, but hey now that it’s affecting more people like heterosexual beings, we should really do something about it.’
via @huffingtonpost
Some Facts:
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, homosexual men – men who have sex with men — account for half (53 percent) of the 56,000 new HIV infections each year.
Another 31 percent are heterosexual – largely women who have sex with men who have sex with men. Sixteen percent are intravenous drug abusers – with 4 percent MSM drug abusers.
via @cnsnews
In the headlines:
Philip Caulfield, Lesbian lovers tagged ‘Thelma and Louise’ hit 29 homes in robbery spree; found lion at one house , NYDailyNews (September 18th 2011)
PETA to launch porn site in name of animal rights, SydneyMorningHerald (September 20th 2011)
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