Indiana House defeats HPV vaccination bill

Posted: Feb 19, 2015 12:49 AM Updated: Feb 24, 2015 11:51 PM

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana House has voted against House Bill 1359 by a vote of 51-44. The bill would have required the Indiana State Department of Health to create a program to boost awareness of the HPV (human papillomavirus).

The goal with House Bill 1359, which was debated last week at the Statehouse, was to have 80% of all Indiana children between the age of 13-15 vaccinated by the 2020.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection there is. According to the Centers for Disease Control, it is so common that nearly all sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives. But there are vaccines to prevent it. 

One central Indiana woman was fighting to see the bill passed.

Melissa Beeson is savoring her tall flat white at Starbucks, but in truth she is also savoring life. She was diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer just two years ago.

“It totally turned my world upside down,” Beeson, 34, admitted while she sipped a coffee at Starbucks.

Beeson was diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer, believed to be caused by an HPV infection. For the next nine months she underwent a radical hysterectomy, 10 chemo treatments and 37 radiation treatments.

“I finished my treatments the end of August of 2013,” she revealed. As of now, she’s cancer-free, but she admits she will always have to continually monitor her health. Looking back, she says her two boys were her inspiration.

“I think that is one of the big things that helped me fight through this and keep such a positive attitude is I knew I could not leave my kids. I didn’t want them to have to deal with the heartbreak of having to lose a mother,” she said.

Now she is speaking out about her private hell because she is worried about her children and yours. 

“My oldest son is 12. He has received all three of his vaccinations. My youngest is eight. He will start in a couple of years in his age group. They have to go in and get vaccinations at the sixth grade so we started it then,” she noted.

While the politicians debate the bill, there was talk of abstinence. Beeson understands that, but argues, “Even if your child waits until they are married, what about their partner? If their partner hadn’t waited until they were married as well. Even if they had one other sexual partner. Who did that sexual partner have as their partner? If you start thinking about this it can really be very widespread about who is affected just by one little encounter.”

That is the reality Indiana is currently facing, but it doesn’t have to be a death sentence. Melissa Beeson is living proof.

“Anytime you hear the word cancer you think death sentence, but it is not. There are wonderful treatments and wonderful doctors and now there are vaccines and with these vaccines, this is one cancer we can eliminate,” Beeson added.

That is the hope she is savoring most of all.

http://www.wthr.com/story/28143197/indiana-lawmakers-aim-to-boost-hpv-vaccination-rates