The province I live in, like most of those in Canada, has two separate school systems; the Catholic and the Public. Confusingly, and in my opinion, wrongly, they are both publicly funded. This means that the local Bishop is the moral guide for the school system. Yup, that’s right. A Bishop. Making what amounts to decisions for a public institution. Creepy. Anyway, this post is not about the Catholic school system but about some recent issues within that system here in Calgary.
The HPV virus is not without controversy and while I don’t object to it I do admit there are some troubling issues surrounding the timing, funding and research of the vaccine. However, this is about what happens when a religious nut opens his mouth and potentially endangers the lives of women. The Alberta Health Services decided to offer the vaccine (Gardisil) to girls in grade 5 in the province of Alberta. They felt that at this young age they could be sure to catch most girls before they became sexually active. Bishop Fred Henry came out and said he felt that giving the vaccination to girls within the Catholic school system would encourage them to have pre-marital sex and was therefore opposed on moral grounds. The school trustees in true Catholic form, stopped thinking for themselves (or about the people to whom they are charged with protecting) and agreed with Bishop Henry. They refused to offer the vaccine in school and gave children the option to go to a local health clinic to receive it.
Fast forward a year and we now have the results of this theocratic “health” decision. Only 30% of girls in the Catholic schools received the vaccination. (Interestingly, the French Catholic board ignored their Bishop and 60% of their students received the vaccine…I can only assume those parents are just as Catholic so it had less to do with moral objection and more to do with being too lazy to take their daughter to a clinic. Grrr.) Great, so now when little Sally gets cervical cancer she can feel good about the fact that she listened to an old man who had never had sex and never would and never ran any risk whatsoever of contracting HPV.
To me this is not about whether or not the HPV vaccine is safe, effective or the right choice for your kids. That debate exists within the realm of science and reason and facts. That’s okay. What I take issues with is that first of all, anyone could actually think that giving young girls a vaccine will encourage them to have sex. That is just so weird! It’s not based on evidence or research or even common sense. It’s ignorant and in this case, potentially dangerous. It is the exact same argument that many make against birth control and it has been disproved time and time again. The second issue is that Bishop Henry has a role to play at all. This is a health decision and as I already mentioned, a publicly funded institution. He can say what he wants at the pulpit but the school trustees should be ashamed of themselves for cow-towing to his religious authority.
I can’t believe I actually used to have a framed picture of Bishop Fred Henry in my house. What the hell was I thinking?
Your post was much more eloquent than mine. Very well written. I’m also in Alberta and am waiting to see what the Catholic Board will recommend here. They’re pretty strident & over-the-top so I’m assuming they’ll be siding with Bishop Henry.
Thanks for the great read.
T
Why DID you have a framed picture of him in your house? Or was that just a generic not-really-thought-about thing? Here at my mom’s my boyfriend asked me after seeing a photo in an album, “What IS that building? Your mom has it in the living room, too?” Uh, yeah, that’d be the Mesa Mormon temple. Ugh.
You weren’t thinking for yourself thats for sure. Either way great read, just sad results.
-JD
The hpv vaccinations are hugely controversial. Even a renowned gynecologist on Oprah said she belives very strongly that the vaccine is dangerous and wrong.
Thanks for your comment Claire. The problem I have isn’t that some people chose not to vaccinate their kids. If it was based on researched, considered scientific issues surrounding it, than fine. It’s not the opinion I’ve come to but they are entitled to it. Basing it on the idea that it would encourage sex or not doing it because the Bishop told them not to is negligent.
I am confused about this. If you are an atheist then why do you care what the Catholics do? You said you have no problem with people not getting their kids vaccinated. But you do have a problem with a school that does not want to encourage vaccination? Or do you just have a problem when people make choices for religious reasons?
The bishop did not say Catholics should avoid the vaccine. He did say the school is not the right place to do it. They cannot teach kids that sex is for marriage one day and the next day tell them we all know you will have sex in junior high if not sooner. So you leave the choice up to parents. They can get the vaccine if they think their daughters are not likely to wait for marriage. They can avoid it if they think their daughters are likely to remain pure.
I didn’t get my daughter vaccinated. She is in the 9th grade. If she decided that chastity is not something she wants to live then I will suggest it. But if she follows through on her plan to avoid sex outside of marriage then the vaccine makes no sense.
Randy – If you think you’re daughter is going to make a formal announcement to you about when she wants to have sex, you may wanna review adoloscent psychology.
I think Atheist Mom’s issue does not entirely stem from caring/not caring about what catholics do in general, but in a PUBLICALLY FUNDED SYSTEM. In Toronto, I have a huge beef with the PUBLICALLY FUNDED Catholic board that is legally allowed to base their hiring practices on faith. i.e. I am a professional who cannot get a job in this board because I am Jewish. It’s an enormous abuse of power adn public dollars.