This past June, the Food and Drug Administration approved the world's first and only cancer vaccine-Gardasil. It immunizes recipients against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease responsible for over 100 types of infections, some strains of which cause abnormal cell growth in the cervix. Tests conducted by Merck Research Laboratories conclude that Gardasil is 100 percent effective in preventing HPV, 70 percent effective in preventing cervical cancers, and 90 percent effective in preventing genital warts.

HPV is America's latest epidemic. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 6.2 million Americans will contract HPV this year, and 50 percent of all people will come in contact with the virus at least once in their lifetime. Despite such ghastly statistics, many conservative Christians are urging women not to get vaccinated. These critics claim that young women may see the vaccine as permission to have sex, particularly sex before marriage. Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group based in Colorado Springs, supports this view.

"You can't catch the virus, you have to go out and get it with sexual behavior," Linda Klepacki, a member of the organization, told the New York Times. "We can prevent it by having the best public health method, and that's not having sex before marriage."

Other adversaries of the vaccine, such as the Family Research Council-another conservative group-also believe Gardasil will lead to increased sexual behavior among young adults. But isn't this the same commentary right-wing communities have offered in the past about the accessibility of condoms? Clearly condoms were not the source of the problem but rather the solution; the rubbers came about because people were already having sex and needed contraceptives to avoid contracting STDs as well as unwanted babies.

As the above examples demonstrate, conservative groups think Gardasil will send out the wrong message to adolescents, but the message received depends on the individuals' own interpretations. It would not be wrong to say that many youngsters will read the vaccine as a call to take care of their health. Conservatives should not assume that teenagers only have sex on their minds. In fact, girls who take the time to get injected probably care enough about their health and well-being to know the difference between safe and unsafe sexual practices. They are unlikely to develop unsanitary sexual habits and risk the chance of catching potentially deadly diseases.

Nevertheless, boys and girls inclined to have sex will have sex, married or unmarried. Because of God's command in Genesis to "be fruitful and multiply," it's inevitable that men and women will join in copulation-what isn't inevitable is contracting HPV. The American Cancer Society predicts that 3,700 American women will die this year from cervical cancer. To reduce the number of deaths, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended in June that girls 11 and 12 years of age receive the vaccine to prevent future cases of HPV.

Great Britain has decided to include Gardasil in its national immunization program, and Michigan passed legislation this September requiring sixth grade girls be injected. In local areas, NYU has made the vaccine available to its students-however, Columbia will not offer the treatment until January 2007 because the University's general policy on vaccines is to only begin giving them after they have been on the market for six months as to ensure harmful side effects do not occur.

When it comes to sex, personal responsibility is necessary, as conservatives would say. However, one can take all the precautions in the world and things can still go wrong, as Murphy's Law states. If a woman or girl unexpectedly discovers that she is HPV-positive some time after sexual intercourse, she, along with her parents, will be relieved to know Gardasil is available. Whatever opponents of the vaccine may believe, Gardasil is a move to promote security, not promiscuity.