Catholics have every right to refuse Gardisil, if they believe that sexual morality will lesson the risk of cervical cancer. Having less sexual partners would decrease your risk of contracting HPV virus, however, many good catholics, and other people who are not promiscuous can, and will, contract this virus and develop cervical cancer. To deny this treatment to them on 'moral grounds' is hypocritical. I have many religious friends, of various faiths, and it seems most other religious people value the wellbeing and health of each greater to issues of judgement.

As for the article by Dr Renate Klein, this is a clear case of scare-mongering that I'd expect from a member of the "Feminist International Network of Resistance to Reproductive and Genetic Engineering".

* if they follow the advice, are guaranteed a physical and spiritual health of far higher likelihood than from following any other advice.*

Clearly mental health was not included here, for we know that despite
all that praying, despite all that training, even the Catholic clergy
are sexual beings and preaching abstinence to them has been a
dismal failure.

Stop&think: "Nina, the Catholic Church is not stopping anyone from having an injection...For people who don't wish to follow the Church's proposed way of living, it is not stopping them from taking those medical steps."

Actually, numerous catholic school principals (under advisement from the church) have refused to stock Gardasil and administer it to young women. This makes it much more difficult for young girls to receive the vaccine as it would require an extra trip to the GP, often at considerable expense. While the Church has not *banned* Gardasil it certainly puts up roadblocks.

"You make it out that the Church is harming people in much the same way that anti-Catholic people argue the Church's stance on contraception is harming people in Africa."

Absolutely! Their stance on contraception and condoms in Africa is reckless and irisponible. The notion that condoms should be banned bc they contribute to the spread of AIDS is the exact type of catholic illogical double think I find ridiculous and have outright contempt for.

Yuri: this essay is a "thinly- veiled attack on the Catholic Church"..
well obviously i didn't go far enough then. It was meant to be a direct and outright attack on the church.

@Sancho: :-)

Stop&Think: "The Church has a role to offer sound advice to its followers" like what exactly? That evolution is not real and that fossils were placed in the earth to test our faith? Really, I find your handle name incredibly ironic.

As for Renate Klein's piece, I welcome the debate and her position although I do disagree with this sort of radical feminism. Using a few anecdotes of times when things have gone wrong ignored the benefits to the vast majority of the population. Also, what medications do not have some unintended and negative side effects?

Also it's interesting to see so many conservative Catholic types getting in bed with Renate Klein, a radical left feminist. What odd bedfellows, and yet it's remarkably similar to pornography debates where anti-porn feminists and Catholic conservatives have closed ranks and campaigned against the porn industry.

It's very amusing to see two such groups, with competing agendas in every other regard, form an alliance of such convenience... well done to both groups on their paper thin politics and superficial alliances...it's like school yard politics, though with more stupidity.

I'm sorry, but the Catholic Church has lost all moral authority on anything to do with sex. The good old pope can barely bring himself to say the word condom! Despite overwhelming amounts of epidemiological evidence that condoms prevent the spread of HIV and other STDs, the Catholic Church continues to maintain that they should not be used. The Pope's teachings/follow-or-you-will-burn-in-hell-instructions are directly killing people. I'm sorry -- that's how it is.

Apparently, though (thanks runner!) the Church is promoting "godly values", so this is all OK. I'm sorry, what are godly values? A quick read of the Old Testament reveals vengeance, nepotism, anger, violence, irrationality and arrogance as being classic Godly Behaviour. If you're going to try to back the Church, at least read the whole book, not just the bits that make nice bed time stories.

Also, it's a bit rich for the Church to say "Hey don't have sex, sex is bad" whilst a disturbingly large proportion of them touch/etc kids for a good time. Child abuse is endemic in the Church world wide, and enormous amounts of effort have been expended to protect the perpetrators. When the Church cleans up it's sexual game, then at least it won't be hypocritical when it tells others what to do (it will still be wrong though).

From the crusades to the inquisiton right through to the current criminalisation of abortion in places like Nicuragua, the sad history of the church is naught but a tale of power, greed and abuse. To delude yourself into believing that the Catholic church is somehow based around moral legitimacy or equality and forgiveness only shows how powerful the effects of it's millenia old propaganda network are.

Why do you dimwits insist that religion be allowed a seat at the table when it comes to the issue of public health policy? Such policies are rightly formulated by experts, implemented through our democratic representatives and are based on empirical research, which co-incidentally is the exact opposite of the superstion and mindless tradition that you clowns elevate to the sacrosanct.

I really cannot understand why we as a society allow the terms of debate surrounding issues such as this, abortion and homosexuality to be framed by people who have the temerity to label liberal-minded people as deviants and perverts for simply basing our thought on rational principles. Because while Catholic crimes such as the looting of South America to feed the kleptocracy in Rome may now be but distant pinpricks on your (well-used) theological rear view mirror, the current blood of every Tanzanian woman who could have used a condom, every girl locked into an abusive and loveless marriage by an unwanted child, every American or Australian boy who ends up swinging from a noose after hearing one fiery semon too many will be on your hands.

But out and keep your moronic fear and insecurity to yourself.