ATLANTA - Late last month, Georgia lawmakers seemed on the verge of passing a bill requiring girls entering sixth-grade to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.

"Sometimes, there are ideas that are ready, and sometimes there are ideas that haven’t percolated enough," Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville, said Friday.

The legislation seemed to have momentum when the Senate Health and Human Services Committee approved it 8-3 on Feb. 27 and sent it to the Rules Committee, chaired by Balfour, its last stop on the way to the Senate floor.

Georgia wouldn’t be breaking new ground in vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes virtually all cases of cervical cancer, a disease that kills 3,700 American women each year.

Since then, lawmakers in at least 21 states have introduced bills to mandate HPV vaccinations, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and three states -- Virginia, New Jersey and New Mexico -- have passed them.

"If this was a vaccine that would cure or prevent prostate cancer, there would be absolutely no question about it," Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, told Balfour during last month’s committee hearing. "I think it’s a wonderful thing you’re doing."

Although the legislation included a provision allowing parents with religious objections to refuse permission for their daughters to be vaccinated, religious conservatives spoke out against a government-imposed mandate.

Pat Chivers of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta pointed to four states that either already have passed or are considering HPV bills that urge, but don’t require, parents to get the shots.

Sadie Fields, chairman of the Georgia Christian Alliance, questioned requiring girls who haven’t even entered their teens to be vaccinated against a disease that’s sexually transmitted.

"We don’t want it rushed to children before they’re of age to make a decision," she said. "We think it sends the wrong signal to young girls."

Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth, who questioned the mandate during last month’s hearing, said last week that the bill would set a precedent in Georgia.

"I think the vaccine is clearly an important development," he said. "But historically, we’ve only mandated vaccines for school attendance for highly contagious airborne diseases."

Dr. Martin Michaels, president of the Georgia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, questioned whether the state should abandon another precedent that leaves regulating vaccines in Georgia to the state Division of Public Health.

"What if you’re an atheist? It would be kind of hard to object on religious grounds," he said. "Or what if it’s a health reason? You’re afraid of the shot.

This is cache, read story here