LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This New Scientist article talks about a vaccine for the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), and how it causes cervical cancer. Seems that it is sexually transmitted, and the onus is to get women vaccinated for it before they become sexually active:

DEATHS from cervical cancer could jump fourfold to a million a year by 2050, mainly in developing countries. This could be prevented by soon-to-be-approved vaccines against the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer - but there are signs that opposition to the vaccines might lead to many preventable deaths.

The trouble is that the human papilloma virus (HPV) is sexually transmitted. So to prevent infection, girls will have to be vaccinated before they become sexually active, which could be a problem in many countries.

In the US, for instance, religious groups are gearing up to oppose vaccination, despite a survey showing 80 per cent of parents favour vaccinating their daughters. "Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV," says Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian lobby group that has made much of the fact that, because it can spread by skin contact, condoms are not as effective against HPV as they are against other viruses such as HIV.

"Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a licence to engage in premarital sex," Maher claims, though it is arguable how many young women have even heard of the virus.

That's right, folks- the religious people see getting a potentially life-saving vaccination as being a 'license to engage in premarital sex', just like they see the Pill as giving permission for women to have sex without the risk of pregnancy.

Another writer says that's bad enough, but for Muslim women, the consequences might be even worse:

"We found that some Asian women in Britain are afraid even to get tested for HPV infection, because they say if it is positive they will be killed, never mind that their husbands probably gave it to them," says Szarewski. She feels that such attitudes may mean that HPV vaccination may be a non-starter in such communities.

As a woman, I say this is outrageous. And because I am female, my main reason for standing up to the imposed morality of the religious people is because I do not believe that I am a second-class citizen, and I refuse to become one. Various faiths can believe what they want- that's fine. But when they try to impose those misogynistic beliefs on the population at large- which includes me- and curtail my liberty as a human being in any fashion, I will fight.