Not everyone was thrilled that Texas became the first state requiring HPV vaccinations for 11- to 12-year-old girls.
Monday morning, fellow Republicans called a press conference to ask Gov. Rick Perry to reconsider his executive order for mandatory vaccinations. The lawmakers said Perry's order skipped the legislative process and excluded public input on the issue.
"If we are going to require that our young girls take this, I want to know, are we getting into very safe territory?" said Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, a mother of four daughters. "Is this something I would want my daughter to have?"
Nelson, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, was joined by Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Van.
The legislators said they received messages over the weekend from an "outraged" public after Perry announced the order late Friday afternoon.
"This may be the greatest thing ever," Keffer said, but said there was a need to understand, "what in the world are we getting into."
The HPV vaccine is recommended for girls between the ages of 11 and 12 and protects against four types of HPV that account for 70 percent of cervical cancers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nelson asked Perry to rescind his order and allow the House and Senate to discuss their vaccination bills, evaluate the vaccine's selection process and allow committees to hear testimony from independent scientific experts.
The vaccine's manufacturer, Merck & Co., has contributed thousands of dollars to legislators in states considering similar legislation, including $6,000 to Perry's political campaign.
"The HPV vaccine does not promote sex, it protects women's health," Perry said in a statement released this afternoon.
None of the lawmakers at Monday morning's conference said the program endorsed sexual promiscuity.
The governor's statement reiterated that his order allows parents to opt out their children from the vaccination.
Nineteen other states and the District of Columbia, including Michigan, where a similar initiative failed last year, are considering legislation for HPV vaccination, according to the Women in Government Web site.
The retail price of the HPV vaccine is $120 for each of the three required doses, according to the CDC Web site. UT students currently pay $159 per dose at University Health Services, according to its Web site.
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