An interesting article came across my desk this afternoon, by way of the Surrey North Delta Leader.

In it, a school trustee from Surrey (Heather Stilwell) raises concerns about the school district giving the Gardasil vaccination to girls in grades six through nine.

The vaccine, which supposedly could prevent up to 70 per cent of cervical cancers (the second most common cancer in women between age 20 and 40) is set to be given to the children with their parents' consent starting in the fall.

Gardasil is used to prevent infection by the Human Papilloma virus, or HPV, which is a sexually transmitted disease commonly known in high school hallways as genital warts. HPV is one of the most common causes of cervical cancer.

Stilwell was quoted as saying that: 'This vaccine has been tested for such a short period of time ... we have no idea what the long term effects are."

She is correct in a way, but the vaccine has been tested on 25,000 women of all ages in 33 countries over five years, according to the manufacturer.

There have been some rare side effects, but it's a fair assumption to say that anything that stands a good chance of preventing cancer in young women is a good thing.

I am not a parent, so whether or not I would have my child get the vaccination is irrelevant, but if I were a child, I'd probably want to get immunized.

There is the belief held by some groups that getting girls immunized early will lead to premature sexual activity and promiscuity.

What is a concern for me is that this seems like this is another pet project of the socially conservative Surrey school board.

This is the same woman who advocated the removal of sexual education and condom machines from Surrey schools a decade ago and was a central figure in the ridiculously unconstitutional same-sex book bannings that ended up costing taxpayers in Surrey more than a million dollars in legal bills.

Another example of this was when the district prohibited students at Elgin Park Secondary from staging a production of The Laramie Project, a play about the death of Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming who was brutally murdered.

The play, which has been used as a vehicle for promoting acceptance of homosexuals and fighting homophobia, was later put on by Lord Byng Secondary in Vancouver.

Hopefully for the young girls in the Surrey school district, their parents will listen to trained medical professionals instead of school trustees.