Taking Sides

1. Taking Sides.txt[3/22/2014 11:22:32 PM]
Kevin Salinas
Bio 1090
2-15-14
Taking Sides Assignment
The thesis of the yes side is an approach to reasoning. It suggests that HPV vaccinations for teenage girls should be
justified from a moral and public health perspective. The thesis also suggests that mandating the HPV vaccination may
be justified based on the cancer linked to the virus.
The argument in the article suggests that the child’s right to have the vaccination and the sufficient biological defenses
to avoid infection and disease from the virus influenced the parents non desire for the vaccination
On the yes side it is stated that 75% of people young people have sexual relationships before they marry.
The yes side believes that withholding the vaccine because of factors like age, different values about sexual
relationships between youths, and potential sexual actions is unfair to do so.
The main thesis in the “NO” article suggests that HPV vaccination for teenage girls is too soon and early on to be
mandated. The authors give details on why this vaccination does not pose a significant risk.
In order to approach the issue not to support mandated HPV vaccinations the authors discredited the length of time of
the vaccine as being relatively recent and too early in the start to identify the long term effects. The authors also argued
that the cost of the vaccination would be expensive and unnecessary. The idea that most women in the United States will
never come in contact with the cancer causing strains was another approach of the authors.
There are many facts about mandatory vaccinations. For one, it’s important to know that all vaccines have side effects
and that vaccines are not always a “cure”. Mandatory vaccinations can help with the prevention and reduce the risk of
serious developing diseases. The “herd theory” suggests the more people vaccinated, the less likely the disease is to
spread.
Two opinions presented were:
Mandating HPV will interfere with individual and parental autonomy
Vaccination mandates will place economic burden on federal and state governments.
The authors are not saying “No” to the HPV vaccine, the authors are simply stating the vaccine should be optional and
since there isn't any evidence that there isn't long term effects, people should have a choice to opt out and not be
required to take it.
The cause and effect I found to be interesting was the “herd immunity”. Herd immunity is the belief that if everyone is
immunized then diseases are less likely to spread among a population. If people are not vaccinated, the herd immunity
will have minimal impact and continue to spread.
Neither side seem to impress me the most. I agree with the no side more because the yes said didnt have a good reason
on way girls should be mandated to take the vaccine. I think the occupations of the people in favor and not in favor of
the vaccines have a lot to do with being bias on both sides.
.
Neither side is more correct. People should have there own choice on what vaccines they should take especially if there
is a risk, and our government hasn't had any long-term research . Better educating our children and young girls should
be the alternative.
This assignment was helpful and opened up my eyes to understanding two sides of an argument. Both sides are
validated in their observations and were very persuasive. I took the no side that we shouldn't mandate the vaccine, I
believe a vaccine is a great advancement in medicine, but it is just not safe to take a vaccine without knowing what the
long term effects may be.