Every now and then, it’s worth asking: Where would society be without the crusading moralists at James Dobson’s Focus on the Family? Defenders of all things righteous and holy, the group has defended our decaying society against the scourges of homosexuality, fetus-icide and pornography. Now, a former Focus on the Family medical analyst, Reginald Finger, has taken up the fight against requiring young women to receive a 100-percent-effective vaccine for human papilloma virus. If mandated, the vaccine would send “an overall message to teenagers that, ‘We expect you to be sexually active.’ ” It is heartwarming to know that in this period of sexual liberation and uncontrolled leg-spreading, some are still standing for the Christian value of self-restraint.
- Sarah Royce
Some leftist critics have suggested that Finger’s approach is putting politics above health concerns; HPV causes cervical cancer, and this highly effective vaccine could save 3,700 American lives per year. Nothing could be further from the truth. Finger cares about women’s health – which is why he supports abstinence, the only fully effective way to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted pathogens such as HPV. By vaccinating all women against the potentially lethal HPV, the government would imply that Saturday night “hookups,” sins in the eyes of God, are costless.
Furthermore, if the government requires an HPV vaccine, it will set a dangerous precedent. In scientific labs across the country, scientists are working hard to develop vaccines to prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. If an HPV vaccine that could save 3,700 lives is required, it is virtually guaranteed that the government will mandate an HIV/AIDS vaccine that could save hundreds of thousands of lives. Yet as good Christians, we cannot support drugs that take the bite out of lethal STDs that deter premarital sex.
Of course, the liberal elite will denounce Finger and suggest that his approach to controlling STDs will cost lives. This is offensive; as God-fearing Christian men and women, we believe more than any liberal in the sanctity of life. We believe, however, that abstinence – not condoms that fail a dangerously high 3 percent of the time – is the solution to STD transmission. Any quasi-effective solution to STD transmission, such as a vaccine or a condom, only encourages risky and un-Christian behavior.
Because we lost the battles against the polio and smallpox vaccines, millions of otherwise hideously scarred, immobile or dead individuals went on to use their lithe and unblemished limbs in ways God never intended. It’s time to stop letting the scalpel of modern medicine slice through the moral fabric of our Christian society.