While looking into a bit of a dust-up over the HPV vaccine that Markos mentioned on Tuesday, I found that while Perry may have been on the 'right' side of the issue for a few years before waffling on it, his reasons for doing so may not have been quite so pure. Perry had supported mandatory HPV vaccination in his state until his flip-flop this week, and maybe that prior support might seem like a good thing. Not so much, once you see why he did.
For years, Gov. Rick Perry has taken flak for his 2007 attempt to require girls to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus, the most commonly sexually transmitted disease and the principal cause of cervical cancer. At the risk of angering fellow conservatives, Perry has always insisted he did the right thing.
This was part of kos' diary mention of the mandatory HPV vaccinations in Texas, which the state legislature overturned. And Perry has indeed made some (self-)righteous noise about it, as the Washington Post article shows.
Until this past week, Perry has staunchly defended the vaccine decision, casting it as a “pro-life” attempt to protect women’s health and disparaging objections from social conservatives. At a defiant news conference in May 2007, Perry chastised legislators for overturning the order; he was flanked by several women who had contracted the virus, including one who had been raped.
While Perry was using rape victims as props, however, he was also accepting money and support from Merck & Co., the vaccine's manufacturer. And he continues to benefit from their relationship to this day. Perry had a Merck lobbyist, Mike Toomey, as chief of staff, and took a $6K contribution from Merck when the idea of mandatory vaccination was under discussion. And now, Mike Toomey has popped up again with the Make Us Great Again super PAC.
Rachel Maddow mentioned this super PAC the other day for its extremely overt support for Rick Perry -- it's the one with his picture and name all over their website. Screenshot or it didn't happen? Check out the Maddow blog link.
So now, Rick Perry is singing another tune when it comes to mandatory HPV vaccination. Given his ties to Merck, though, I am left wondering if he's whistling Dixie. Conservatives, even, might have cause to be suspicious. They seem willing to overlook the flaws of their politicians in order to take power, though. And for my part, gov't support for women's health is a good idea in my book. But the obvious money and influence changing hands in this case is unseemly.
If you're going to support women's health, Rick Perry, do it for the sake of women -- not for the cause of corporate profits and your kickbacks.