As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to oppose A1603, a bill that would require students to be immunized against the human papillomavirus (HPV) to attend school.
If this legislation passes, New Jersey students who opt out of the HPV vaccine could be denied access to an education. I consider this overreach by the government and an infringement on parental rights.
First and foremost, HPV is not contracted in a school setting, and it does not have a short incubation period like other viruses and illnesses for which vaccines are mandated. Moreover, there is no public safety issue in New Jersey warranting such legislation. Though HPV is a public health concern, it is a sexually transmitted disease that is not spread in school; therefore, making school attendance conditional on receiving the HPV vaccine is unwarranted.
The HPV vaccine is the most controversial vaccine to ever hit the global market. Despite claims by the manufacturer, Merck, that the vaccine prevents cancer, there is not one scientific study proving that the HPV vaccine has ever prevented cancer of any kind. Further, a paper published in January 2020 by the Royal Society of Medicine raises serious concerns about the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine. The researchers found that the vaccine’s phase 2 and 3 trials were not designed to detect cervical cancer, which takes decades to develop.
At the same time, there is a large and growing body of scientific evidence demonstrating great harm from the HPV vaccine. As of December 2019, 64,270 adverse events from the HPV vaccine — over 4,200 of which were fatal, life-threatening or resulted in permanent injury — had been reported to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (which is believed to capture less than one percent of all adverse events).
Worldwide, protests and lawsuits against Merck’s controversial HPV vaccine are ongoing due to growing reports of injuries, deaths, clinical trial fraud, and fraudulent marketing. In fact, several countries have chosen not to mandate the HPV vaccine due to concerns over vaccine reactions, and some regions have set up special clinics specifically to help HPV vaccine injury victims.
You should know that many parents who are on board with vaccinating their children cannot get on board with the HPV vaccine for the reasons cited above — and because HPV is a benign illness that ordinarily resolves on its own. According to the National Cervical Cancer Coalition, most cases of cervical cancer can be prevented through early detection and treatment of abnormal cell changes that occur years before cervical cancer develops.
Trying to curb cancer is an honorable endeavor, but New Jersey lawmakers should not force children to receive a vaccine for an illness that is not spread in school and that also carries a risk of serious side effects and death. Instead, lawmakers should focus on creating sound health policies rooted in educating constituents so they can make personal health decisions based on unbiased facts — not because they were strong-armed by the state. Parents should continue to make informed decisions about vaccinations, including whether their children will be vaccinated with the HPV vaccine, in conjunction with their family physician.
Please protect the sacred and important role that parents have in guiding their children’s individual medical decisions and vote no on A1603.