It just wouldn’t be campaign season if a Republican candidate wasn’t dangerously rejecting modern science or medicine to score cheap political points.
The Journal would like to voice its absolute horror at the recent comments by Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who as recently as last week could be seen warning young women about the dangers of the HPV vaccine.
Bachmann famously told FoxNews just moments after the tea party debate last week that these injections are highly dangerous and can even cause mental retardation in young women.
Mrs. Bachmann, you are wrong. Women run The Journal. That is to say, many of our editors and writers are women, a majority, in fact. So imagine our shock, our utter disgust, when Bachmann began openly misleading her constituents about the dangers of a medical procedure that can save thousands of lives.
We can’t help but wonder how many poll points Bachmann thinks lives are worth.
The HPV vaccine has clearly been displayed as the No. 1 preventer of cervical cancer in women. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common STD among sexually active young adults. Because it is not dangerous to men, and because it rarely shows symptoms, the CDC estimates as many as 40 percent of all sexually active adults are currently infected with HPV and many of them don’t know it.
While HPV may be relatively harmless to men, it is the number one cause of cervical cancer in women. The HPV vaccine is a medical breakthrough hailed globally as a major step in saving the lives of women everywhere.
But with Bachmann wandering the cable-news outlets calling it a government mandated inoculation (it isn’t) or a dangerous, unproved medial procedure (it’s not), The Journal can’t help but wonder how many concerned mothers and daughters will pass on their shots this year.
Bachmann has begun to back-pedal from her comments, having failed to produce a single woman suffering any major medical side effects from the vaccine.
But the damage has been done. The Journal supports women’s health and the prosperity of our medical advancements. It will not stay silent or support any candidate who rejects safety for votes.
Political points aren’t worth lives. For shame, Mrs. Bachmann, for shame.
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