In November 2006, Merck pharmaceuticals started a massive advertising and lobbying campaign aimed at promoting Gardasil, a vaccine that prevents cervical cancer from two of the thirty strains of the human papillomavirus that can cause cervical cancer. Their advertising campaign, titled "One Less," touted the benefits of the vaccine through a series of commercials in which female actors stated that they wanted to be "one less woman who will battle cervical cancer. One less". A few months later, the governor of (...) Texas issued an executive order directing the Health and Human Services Commission to adopt rules that would require all eleven- and twelve-year-old girls to have been given the vaccine. (shrink)

Should the HPV vaccine be mandatory for young women? Many proponents of mandatory vaccinations argue that it is good for women. Yet feminists have reason to be concerned. A partial list of reasons that are cause for skepticism include the following: the fact that there are large expenses associated with the vaccination, which could lead to some serious conflicts of interest; the fact that men carry this virus, yet there is no push to vaccinate them; and the fact that it (...) is not clear that the vaccine has been sufficiently tested to ensure women’s safety. This paper will examine legislation to make the HPV vaccine mandatory and will discuss the implications that surround it. (shrink)