Pierre Trudeau, when he was justice minister, famously said: "There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation."Similarly, there is no place for the Roman Catholic Church (or any other religious organization for that matter) in the public health programs of the nation.
Yet, in at least one province, the church has thrown a self-righteous wrench into a plan to vaccinate schoolgirls against HPV.
(Human papillomavirus, which is sexually transmitted, can cause cervical cancer and genital warts, and the vaccine prevents transmission of leading cancer-causing strains.)
About half of Alberta's Catholic school boards have refused to allow the HPV vaccine to be administered as part of in-school vaccination programs.
The church's principal argument appears to be that vaccinating girls against a sexually transmitted infection will somehow entice them into premarital sex and promiscuity.
"A school-based approach to vaccination runs the risk of sending at least an implicit message that early sexual intercourse is allowed as long as one uses 'protection,' " Bishop Fred Henry wrote in an opinion piece published in the Calgary Herald.
It is an argument so specious that it is offensive.
Let's be clear: The vaccine does not cause children to have premarital sex. It protects a woman, when she is sexually active, with her husband or otherwise, from contracting a virus.
Teaching young people about morality, spirituality and the sanctity of marriage, as Bishop Henry espouses, is perfectly acceptable, laudable even.
But entreaties to abstinence and reliance on prayer are not a substitute for sound public health measures. The public - and young people in particular - deserve an in-depth sexual health education, including learning about healthy relationships, available methods of contraception and vaccination.
Depriving Catholic students of easy access to the vaccine on so-called moral grounds is preposterous.
The U.S.-based Catholic Medical Association summarized the issue eloquently in its position paper on HPV immunization: "The fact that HPV is spread primarily by sexual contact does not render vaccination against it unethical. Healing and preventing diseases, no matter what their source, are acts of mercy and moral good. Prevention of HPV infection is distinct from, and should not be construed as encouraging, the behaviour by which HPV is spread."
There is no small amount of hypocrisy in the debate surrounding administration of the HPV vaccine.
Consider, for example, that every province vaccinates girls (and boys) against hepatitis B (HBV), a sexually transmitted disease that can cause liver disease and liver cancer, and they have done so for a number of years.
What is the moral distinction between liver cancer and cervical cancer? The HBV vaccine is administered on school premises, so why not the HPV vaccine?
School boards that have refused to allow vaccinations in Catholic schools have grossly overstepped their bounds. While they offer a faith-based education, Catholic schools receive public funds for their day-to-day operations and, as such, boards have no business interfering with state-sanctioned public health programs such as vaccination.
What next? Will Catholic school boards refuse to allow polling stations in schools because there are candidates on the ballot who support a woman's right to have an abortion?
Alberta Health and Wellness Minister Ron Liepert quite justifiably lashed out at the actions of the Catholic school boards and at Bishop Henry's criticism of the vaccination program as irresponsible.
"I would suggest Fred Henry should look in the mirror before he starts talking about people who are irresponsible," Mr. Liepert told the Calgary Herald. "We have a universal vaccination program that takes place in schools, where it would make much more sense and would be much more cost-effective to deliver the vaccine. These guys are throwing a real monkey wrench into things."
As a result of the actions of some Catholic school boards, public health officials in Alberta will, in the coming weeks, stage a series of drop-in clinics so all Grade 5 girls will have access to the vaccine free of charge.
The approach is costly and inefficient and there is no doubt that many girls will not have access to the HPV vaccine as a result of the church's interference in a public health program.
The decision to vaccinate children against HPV (or any other vaccine-preventable disease) ultimately rests with parents and children. They should make these decisions based on good science and individual beliefs.
But institutions such as the Catholic Church and Catholic school boards have no business bullying them and undermining public health programs with fear-mongering posing as ethical concerns.
If a girl has good values and morals before she gets the vaccine, she still will have good values and morals after she gets the vaccine.
She will also have antibodies that protect her against a cancer-causing virus called HPV, and that vaccine will protect her if and when she has sex - whether she has one partner or many.
To condemn a certain number of girls to death from cervical cancer - as some school boards are tacitly doing by blocking access to the HPV vaccine - is cruel and un-Christian.
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Sotto Voce
(Source: GMC)