Does a Catholic Girl Get Vaccinated for HPV?

Pressure is mounting on adolescent females to get the HPV vaccination. Human Papilloma Virus is carried in some form by almost 50% of the adult population. It causes a range of maladies from genital warts to, in the worst strains, cervical cancer in women. It is mostly communicated through sexual contact. The urgency, even to the point of mandating it, rests on the assumption of a promiscuous culture in which sexual activity is widespread among the young. This assumption is not well-founded as over 50% of our youth preserve their virginity through high school and that rate has been rising in recent decades. There are many thriving sub-cultures (Evangelical, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, etc.) in which chastity and marital fidelity are still cherished and protected. However, elite culture, notably entertainment/law/education/politics and including medicine and public health, is dominated by a secular, really atheistic rejection of traditional sexual/marital morality and the presumption of license and promiscuity starting at an early age.  And so, this vaccination raises serious issues for the Catholic family. The Catholic Medical Association study (http://www.cathmed.org/assets/files/Position%20Paper%20on%20HPV%20Immunization.pdf ) finds no ethical problem with the procedure and recommends it medically even as it emphasizes the parents' role in sex education, values chastity for a host of reasons and resists mandating the vaccination. The document is disappointing on several levels: it lacks catechetical vision of the meaning of the gendered, sexual body; it fails to highlight this issue as a "learning opportunity" for parent and daughter; and it seems oblivious to the pervasive invasion of technology into the sacred realm of our sexuality. This last point on technology situates the vaccination within a culture which has intruded an armada of invasive, destructive and toxic techniques...contraceptive pill, test tube babies, maternal surrogacy, frozen embryos...into a arena that should be natural, wholesome, innocent, fluid, spontaneous, trusting and fruitful. Conjugal intimacy between husband and wife is the most precious, private, sacred and hopeful natural reality in God's Creation. But the sexual revolution (empowered by the contraceptive pill) has sundered it apart into sterile, recreational pleasure and "reproductive technologies" (is there an uglier phrase?) And so, for the Catholic, this HPV issue comes at a special time as an invaluable opportunity: for a conversation with the young lady about her now transforming body, the meaning of femininity and intimacy, the human body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, the value of chastity and fidelity, and the marvelous and mysterious unitive and fruitful nature of gender and sex. It is an opportunity to identify the threats to purity that assail our young from the the media and elite cultures. It is an opportunity to "discern the times" and identify how we as Catholics are in dissent from mainstream culture and how we can together protect purity of heart, mind and body. There are many aspects of this question. For one, it is salutary for the bright young woman to learn  biological facts (real, not sentimental sex education!) about the consequences to the body (warts, cancer, etc) as well as to the heart/mind/soul of outside-of-marriage intercourse. The possibility of rape must be considered and the possibility that her husband-to-be may have made bad decisions in this regard. Recently, the American College of Pediatricians as strongly warned against the widely used Gardasil vaccination as there is emerging evidence that it causes Premature Ovarian Failure also known as Premature Menopause. There is even evidence of a cover-up by the pharmacy industry of the dangers of the procedure. (Sound familiar? How concerned has public health and the medical profession been about the toxic effects of the contraceptive pill on the young woman's body?) The final reality is that no combination of technologies can protect the body, heart, mind and soul of the young woman. Genuine protection comes from a virtuous life, sustained by closeness to God and to family and friends who genuinely love her.  I would certainly not have my daughter vaccinated without this conversation; such would be a form of abuse. I would not forbid it. But I would have a really good conversation and hopefully come to a shared understanding, respecting her own intelligence and freedom and cherishing her precious, luminous, emerging femininity..