Assembly Bill 650or the Cancer Prevention Act, mandates HPV vaccines for all California students entering 8^thousand variety The law will apply to both public and private schools.

“HPV is a vaccine against the human papillomavirus. It’s a cancer-preventing vaccine for virtually most types of cervical cancer,” said Dr. Abhishek Mehta, director of pediatrics at Lompoc Valley Medical Center.

It also helps prevent penile cancer in men. The vaccine has been on the market since 2006 with FDA approval and is intended for children after age 9, before they become sexually active.

Dr. Mehta says that anyone who is sexually active is at risk of contracting HPV.

“Parents’ arguments, they say… but my child is not yet sexually active. But always remember that we don’t have to wait for that to happen, nor is this vaccine a green light to become sexually active,” he explained.

One local group is speaking out against the bill.

The San Luis Obispo chapter of Moms for Freedom is calling on all San Luis Obispo school districts to oppose AB 659.

“Well, one of the big problems is that more kids are being pulled out of school. We’re already seeing a decline in public school attendance, and with parents coming to us with their concerns, that’s one of the big things — I’m going to pull my child out of school,” said Tricia Murray, president of Moms for Freedom. .. “By passing this bill into law, it would basically take that right away from those 12-year-olds, and it would also take that right away from those who choose not to get the vaccine.”

The vaccine is already required in Hawaii, Rhode Island and Virginia. If approved in California, exemptions will only be considered for medical reasons and when students are homeschooled.

Hearings on the bill in the state legislature may begin as early as March 14^thousand.