When eternal damnation just isn't deterrent enough...

From "While you were sleeping" by William Falk for the New York Times, highlighting stories from 2005 not given audible media play:

FORBIDDEN VACCINE Every year, about 500,000 women throughout the world develop cervical cancer. In the United States alone, the disease kills about 3,700 women annually. This year, scientists developed a vaccine against human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted disease that is the primary cause of cervical cancer. The vaccine produced 100 percent immunity in the 6,000 women who received it as part of a multinational trial. As soon as the vaccine is licensed, some health officials say, it should be administered to all girls at age 12. But the Family Research Council and other social conservative groups vowed to fight that plan, even though it could virtually eliminate cervical cancer. Vaccinating girls against a sexually transmitted disease, they say, would reduce their incentive to abstain from premarital sex.

Because everyone knows if you're not a good, pure Christian who upholds her maiden virtue, you deserve to be riddled with tumors. It's natural selection. Just directed by God.

Let's see, they also make vaccines for rabies and tetanus. Now that I think about it, that means I have a reduced incentive to abstain from harassing foaming rodents and self-mutilating with shards of rusty metal. Well god damn, sounds like I have plans for New Year's Eve after all!

I hope someone somewhere is working on a vaccine against social conservativism.