By Hannah Wallace, Reporter

Republican presidential candidates reignited the HPV debate when former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum attacked Gov. Rick Perry of Texas during a debate over an order Perry signed requiring sixth grade girls in Texas to be vaccinated against HPV. Santorum criticized the order as an overreach of state power in a decision that should be left to parents.

Representative Michele Bachmann is also under fire for using an inaccurate story about a mother who claimed the vaccine caused her to daughter to become “mentally retarded,” a statement that provoked a rare political comment from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“[We] would like to correct false statements made in the Republican presidential campaign that the HPV vaccine is dangerous and can cause mental retardation,” Marion Burton, the president of the organization, said. “There is absolutely no scientific validity to this statement. Since the vaccine has been introduced, more than 35 million doses have been administered, and it has an excellent safety record.”

HPV is sexually transmitted disease that is the second most common cause of cervical cancer.  Seventy percent of all cervical cancers are caused by HPV, and 12,000 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

“I believe the shot is worthwhile, since it has minimal side effects and prevents a terrible disease,” Barb Giese, school nurse, said.

Junior Alyssa Andrae   believes the vaccine should be required. “You don’t want cancer, and you obviously do not want a disease or virus. It’s called common sense,” she said.