I hope that tonight there are a number of Texas legislators looking into the procedures for impeaching a governor after Rick Perry did this.

Gov. Rick Perry signed an order today making Texas the first state to require that schoolgirls be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.

By issuing an executive order, Perry apparently sidesteps opposition in the Legislature from conservatives and parents' rights groups who fear such a requirement would condone premarital sex and interfere with the way parents raise their children.

Beginning in September 2008, girls entering the sixth grade will have to get Gardasil, Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV.

Excuse me -- I've got a real problem with our governor adopting the "Stroke of the pen. Law of the land. Kinda cool." philosophy of the Clinton years. After all, he knew that he would never get this proposal through the legislature, so he simply has implemented the requirement -- including ordering the spending of money to provide the vaccine -- without legislative authority. Did I miss the line for "dictator" on last fall's ballot?

And please understand -- this is not an objection to the vaccine or to the "message" that giving it sends to young girls. If I had a daughter, she would get this vaccine as a matter of course, without hesitation on my part. As I've said before, my issue is the libertarian issue of how far the state can and should go in placing conditions upon the exercise of the right (under the state constitution) of the right to a public education. Is it appropriate for the state to mandate a vaccine for a condition which is exceedingly unlikely to be passed in the course of normal day-to-day school interaction? No, it isn't, because there is no reasonable nexus between the two.

Also disturbing is Perry's connection to Merck, the company marketing the drug.

Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass state laws across the country mandating Gardasil for girls as young as 11 or 12. It doubled its lobbying budget in Texas and has funneled money through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators around the country.

Perry has several ties to Merck and Women in Government. One of the drug company's three lobbyists in Texas is Mike Toomey, Perry's former chief of staff. His current chief of staff's mother-in-law, Texas Republican state Rep. Dianne White Delisi, is a state director for Women in Government.

Perry also received $6,000 from Merck's political action committee during his re-election campaign.

This stinks, and gives at least the appearance of impropriety.

Here's hoping the Texas Legislature will look into blocking this executive order legislatively -- and removing Perry from office for his corrupt, overreaching action today.

UPDATE: And lest you think my statement about Perry engaging in dictatorial action is an overstatement, here are the position taken by his own spokesperson on the matter.

The order is effective until Perry or a successor changes it, and the Legislature has no authority to repeal it, said Perry spokeswoman Krista Moody. Moody said the Texas Constitution permits the governor, as head of the executive branch, to order other members of the executive branch to adopt rules like this one.

Hardly the actions of a leader in a democratic republic. Sounds more like he thinks he is Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro.

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Posted by: Greg at 03:04 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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