All things considered, this is probably moot, but Governor Perry has been sued over his HPV executive order. Here's Courthouse News:
Parents of three girls have sued Gov. Rick Perry to protect their daughters from inoculation with a vaccine against human papilloma virus, which causes cervical cancer. The John Doe parents claim Perry had no right to issue his Feb. 2 executive order that requires girls in sixth grade and above to be vaccinated before they can enroll in public school. The plaintiffs make it clear that they do not believe HPV causes cancer or that the vaccine is effective. "The school-aged girls of Texas are not guinea pigs who may be subjected to medical procedures at the apparent whim of Texas' governor," the suit states. "These girls, and their parents, may not be penalized for non-compliance with the Governor's wishes, and their privacy rights may not be invaded should they object to the Governor's mandates." They seek an injunction prohibiting enforcement of Perry's order.
You're right that parents can always opt out of vaccines for their own children. So these parents aren't trying to 'protect' their daughters. They're trying to endanger everyone else's daughters.
Posted by: Rozasharn on February 23, 2007 6:47 PMWhat these parents are doing with their lawsuit is correct. Gov. Perry bypassed the legislature to create this mandate that benefits monetarily only Merck. If this bypassing of our legislative process is allowed to continue God knows what we may be force to do. This is taking the power away from the people and is in direct violation of what �executive orders� are supposed to be. Executive orders are only to be enacted in time of emergency not the whim of lobbyists for Merck.
�Much of the controversy has centered on Merck, which this week suspended efforts to lobby statehouses around the country to mandate the vaccine, Gardasil. The company had been funneling money through an advocacy group, Women in Government.
In Texas, some had questioned Perry's Merck ties: Mike Toomey, Perry's former chief of staff, is one of Merck's lobbyists here, and Merck gave $6,000 to Perry's re-election campaign. Black said that Toomey and Perry have never discussed HPV and that "it's a bit of a red herring" since another drug company, GlaxoSmithKline, is also developing an HPV vaccine.
However, documents show that on Nov. 7, the day Perry was re-elected, a gubernatorial policy adviser sent an e-mail to Toomey and to Lara Keel, both of the Texas Lobby Group, with the subject "HPV numbers." The e-mail included projected costs of providing the HPV vaccine to low-income Texans.�
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/02/23/23govhpv.html
There you have it. We are a government for the people, by the people. I do not want to go back to dictatorial rule.