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TAKING SIDES ANALYSIS REPORT (LONG FORM)

Name: Melanie Farronay
Course: Biology 1090
Book: Taking Sides; Clashing View in Health and Society
Issue number: 11 Title of issue: Should Vaccination for HPV Be Mandated for Teenage Girls?
1. Author and major thesis of the Yes side. Joseph E. Balog, Health science professor, believes that HPV
vaccination should be required for teenage girls and it can be validated with moral, scientific, and public
reasoning.
2. Author and major thesis of the No side. Law Professor, Gail Javitt and Lawrence O. Gostin and
Physician Deena Berkwitz believe that because there is limited data and understanding concerning the
HPV vaccine, it should not be a required matter for teenage girls.
3. What fallacies of question-framing are made by the authors of the text? None: Both authors
executed the question suitably. Joseph E. Balog states that this vaccine can help succor many teenage
girls by preventing cervical cancer and can help prevent STIs which is common among sexually active
adolescent girls. Gail, Lawrence, and Deena disagree; they all feel that the scientific validity is skeptical
because the vaccine is relatively new and long-term safety and effectiveness in the general population is
unknown.
4. Briefly state in your own words two facts presented by each side.
Yes Side: Study found that the HPV vaccine is an additional and valuable took for fighting cancer.
Combining a 70% reduction of cervical cancer by vaccination with the 80 % efficacy of screening and
treatment of cervical cancer will achieve a greater good for society. Another found showed that there is
an estimated 46 % of high school students have sexual intercourse with another person by the time they
graduate and 75 % of young people have sexual relationship before marriage. STIs are reportedly
common among sexual adolescent girls and of these, 18.3% are infected with HPV.
No Side: Mercks hostile role in trying to oblige the passage of the state laws mandating HPV has led to
some skepticism about whether profit rather than public health has driven the push for this law. Also
many parents may not feel that there 11 or 12 year old daughter is at risk of being impacted by HPV and
feel that it shouldnt be mandated for their 11 or 12 year old daughter.
5. Briefly state in your own words two opinions presented by each side.
Yes side: Joseph E. Balog states his opinion by saying that HPV vaccine is a huge benefit in fighting
cancer and it will be a great and new efficient way to be able to fight against cervical cancer. His opinion
also states that a large amount of adolescent girls are have sexual intercourse before they even
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graduate from high school and are infected by STIs and might also be infected with HPV. He feels that
many teenage girls are not going to stop having sexual intercourse so by compulsory HPV vaccines can
prevent them from having this disease.
No Side: Law Professor, Gail Javitt and Lawrence O. Gostin and Physician Deena Berkwitz have
controversial opinions about HPV, they think that is should not be mandatory because the risk of this
disease is very low in this country and yet if the age bar starts at 11 it would be preposterous because 11
year old are not sexually active and will not be at risk for STIs. Their opinion about sending this vaccine
to third world countries is preposterous because many are not capable of affording this vaccine.

6. Briefly identify as many fallacies on the Yes side as you can. In the Ethical and morality part of the
compulsory of vaccination is states that none of the proposed alternatives to compulsory vaccination
are intended to do harm but yet the vaccine is relatively new and there is no whereabouts of the long-
term affect for the general public. Later in the Scientific Concerns about Compulsory Vaccination section
states that a compulsory vaccination program aimed at preventing health problems associated with HPV
infections but yet there is a low percent of that in the United States so why make all teenage girls get
the vaccine that is expensive when they will not need it.
7. Briefly identify as many fallacies on the No side as you can. I couldnt find any fallacious statements
on the No Side.

8. All in all, which author impressed you as being the most empirical in presenting his or her thesis?
Why? I found the No side more convincing above all. I feel that this topic does impact me more
personally than the other topics because I am a teenage girl in the age rate for this vaccine and I feel
that making it a requirement to get this vaccine is absurd. Why would I have to $100-300 for a vaccine
that might not even work or might give me long term effects that can be harmful in the future? I am not
sexually active and dont plan to be until marriage so there would be no point in taking the vaccine that
would prevent STIs. Yes it is true, teenage girls are becoming more sexually active but by giving them
this vaccine isnt it somewhat encouraging sex? I mean with this vaccine they would think that they had
nothing to worry about and increase the sexual activity in adolescent girls. If we dont make the vaccine
mandatory and something horrific does happen it is because they didnt choose the right, they then
have to live with the consequence; there is no vaccine for a way out.

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9. Are there any reasons to believe the writers are biased? If so, why do they have these biases? I
believe that the yes side was biased. I believe that it was because it was mainly talking about cervical
cancer and how that vaccine can help, it didnt even go in depth to tell the reader how it was going to
help the third world countries succeed with this vaccine. It kept on pushing this vaccine when it was
mostly trying to obtain profit rather than public health, which that should be more important. If that
vaccine is so important to all of the adolescent girls than why isnt it for free, or at least cheaper. Isnt it
suppose to be about helping the human race? Or is it about money? I feel that Joseph E. Balog also
doesnt understand that not all teenage girls are sexually active so there is no point in having to require
all of the girls to take it.

10. Which side (Yes or No) do you personally feel is most correct now that you have reviewed the
material in these articles? Why?
I feel that the No side is more correct. Refer to answer to question 8 and 9 for my reasoning.