I can see where some of you are coming from. I understand about the drug company. They aren't always in it for the "good of man" but rather the "good of their pocket". I understand a healthy dose of skepticism and caution.

I also see Randy's point about the government regulating personal choice. Yet as a teacher and a parent, things like the seatbelt laws and vaccine laws also strive to protect children who have no voice in their parent's stupidity.

However, there has to be a line. For example, whoever determined that spanking should be against the law is pushing that line. You would have to define when something qualifies as "spanking". Would my using the "If I count to 3 and you don't comply you get a swat on the behind" qualify as a spanking? Would smacking a hand constitute a spanking?

We already have child abuse laws that should be able to differentiate abuse from discipline.

However, in the case of not putting your child in a seatbelt or a car seat, you are risking their life.

So could also be said of a vaccine. With some vaccines, when you don't vaccinate your child you are putting other children's lives at risk as well. That is why some vaccines are required before a child attends school.

I am not sure that this HPV vaccine should be mandated, but I do believe that there should be a way to get insurance companies to pay if a parent so chooses to get the vaccine. Otherwise it's a case of some sectors of the population being able to afford it and others not.

As for me, I see it very personally. With my mother having ovarian cancer, my grandmother having breast cancer and my great grandmother having cervical cancer, I think more should be done to combat gynocological cancers.

Jessica already had the first HPV shot, which cost $195.00, and will have two more in the next few months for the complete vaccine.

I'm sure people were skeptical about the MMR vaccine when it was first introduced as well, but it has saved many lives over the years.

Aurelia