Texas House overturns governor's vaccine order

DALLAS -- The Texas House of Representatives voted yesterday to overturn Governor Rick Perry's executive order that sixth-grade girls be vaccinated against the virus that causes cervical cancer.

The measure passed 118 to 23, according to Chris Cutrone, a spokesman for House Speaker Tom Craddick. A similar bill in the Texas Senate has been sponsored by half the members. It is still in committee.

Perry's order made Texas the first state to mandate use of the vaccine against human papillomavirus, the nation's most common sexually transmitted disease, which can cause cervical cancer.

Perry's office again defended the order. "The governor believes we should protect as many young women as possible -- rich and poor, insured and uninsured -- while maintaining parents' rights to opt their daughter out of receiving the vaccine," spokeswoman Krista Moody said in an e-mailed statement.

The mandate's opponents include parents concerned about the vaccine's safety and conservative Christians who worry that the vaccine will encourage promiscuity. Perry's action has also drawn the ire of lawmakers who say the governor's order usurped the authority of the Legislature.

Perry is a Republican, and his party controls both houses of the Legislature.

The vaccine, Merck & Co.'s Gardasil, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in June for use in girls and women ages 9 to 26. It is recommended for 11- to 12-year-old girls.

New Mexico's House of Representatives passed a bill mandating the vaccine on March 11, and Governor Bill Richardson said he would sign it into law by the end of this week. Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia has said he plans to sign a similar bill. Both are Democrats.

Perry has not indicated whether he will veto the bill if it reaches his desk. If he does, it is unlikely that the Legislature could override the veto because of the way the legislative process in Texas is structured, said Sherri Greenberg, a former member of the Texas House who is a fellow in state government at the University of Texas at Austin.