Why Is The HPV Vaccine Required Of Immigrants But Not U.S. Citizens?
19 November 2008, 12:00 PM. By Anastasia Hinojosa
Did you know a mandate was passed in July by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requiring all female immigrants to the United States to be inoculated with Gardasil–the only human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine currently approved for the U.S. market to females ages 11 to 26? This sounds health conscious except when you consider that vaccination against HPV isn’t a requirement for this country’s citizens because the medicine is so new and its long-term effects are unknown. So why is it okay to force primarily poor women of color to get it? Well, it turns out a 1996 immigration law states that any vaccination recommended by the U.S. government for its citizens–Gardisil was recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year for female citizens aged 11-26–becomes a mandate for green-card applicants. So, in other words, as long as we’re not sure it will kill you, then it’s not unethical. And it turns out there is a lot of precedence for reproductive health being tested on poor and disenfranchised communities of color– even after products are known to be unsafe.
In the 1970’s, after IUD’s were declared to cause endometritis and provide poor protection against pregnancy, they were widely distributed in the women’s prison system in this country. The very first birth control pill, which caused sterility and birth defects amongst other things, was tested in Humacao, Puerto Rico years after testing was stopped in Boston because of said side effects. Injectable birth control (such as Net En and Depo Provera) and sub-dermal implants (like Norplant), which studies show are “likely to cause irreversible damage to their own and their progeny’s health,” were widely distributed in India without adequate information given to those women. And now Guardisil is about to be offered for free in Mexico City–an effort into which the Distrito Federal is investing 1 million pesos. Looks like the good, old, reliable brown guinea pig is back in business.
Gardasil Requirement for Immigrants Stirs Backlash [Wall Street Journal]
Why women’s groups oppose injectable contraceptives [Issues In Medical Ethics, via]
Anger over Puerto Rico’s pill test lingers [The Batt]
HPV Vaccine being Pushed On Young Mexican Girls [Vivir Latino]
The State Can Violate Women’s Bodies if They Want to [WoC PhD]
Earlier: 1% Of Latinas Received Gardisil Vaccinations
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Also check out Committee on Women, the Population, and the Environment’s website for info on these and many more examples of creepy / medically racist reproductive technologies. They also have a storytelling project for folks who’ve used Depo Provera. Thanks for doing this story!
it’s always brownie, check out these you forgot to mention:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Study_of_Untreated_Syphilis_in_the_Negro_Male
the LSD tests done by the CIA were mostly on inner city urban peeps:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKULTRA
there’s also a debate on the origin of aids, the argument is that the polio vaccine was created with money tissue infected with SIV and thousands of africans were infected with the virus that became HIV, i saw this documentary lately and i’m not 100% about it but who knows:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Koprowski
Women of color have been always deemed dangerous b/c of their ability to produce more brown babies. The powers that be are afraid of our ability to change the population and the power structure.
brownfemipower writes about this:
http://brownfemipower.com/archives/2347
It’s nice to know that my reproductive capabilities are a threat.
Given the fact something like half of all coeds have genital warts, the vaccine should be mandatory immediately, like whooping cough or measles vaccines. The only reason it is not is because whitey wants to formulate his health policy based on his self indulgent belief his shit doesn’t stink. It’s a serious problem that needs to be addressed in a serious way, given its long term health/economic consequences.