Whether or not the government should be involved in forcing medical procedures on those who don't want them (even for the best and most noble of pubic health reasons) is a perfectly valid concern, and is certainly worthy of legitimate debate. I am also aware that there are many fears about potential side effects of inoculation which have not been settled to everyone's satisfaction.

But I wonder how much of this kerfuffle is due to the thought that this is a sexual issue, not just a question of the safety of a vaccine. Would we even be having this conversation if this were about measles, or polio shots?

There has always been a political flap when health policies strayed into the reproductive area, whether they be abortion, contraception, or even sex education. Its almost as if some parents are terrified that if their little girls learn too much, or get too much protection or advice, they're going to suddenly find themselves "in the club", to use the delicious East End euphemism. They don't seem to care what their little boys know.

I went to high school in the early 60s, before the pill, sex education, contraception abortion, or any of the other highly-charged innovations we now see in the schools. In spite of this, and the highly traditional and fundamentalist religious upbringing of my classmates, not to mention the near-impossibility of a legal abortion (you had to fly to Sweden to get one), there was a veritable epidemic of teen pregnancy in progress. I didn't do a scientific survey, because everyone tried to keep it quiet, but I would estimate at least 1 in 10, and possibly as much as twice as many, unwanted pregnancies occurred among my classmates. And most young marriages were of the shotgun variety. People just dropped out of school or even moved out of town. You never heard from them again, except on the rumor mill.

And I could never figure out how in the Hispanic community, premarital pregnancy was totally unheard of. (I'm sure it happened, it just wasn't routine like it was among the Anglos) I was in no position to do a proper sociological study of the problem, but my family often commented on it, and thought it was pretty funny.