The governors of a British Roman Catholic school (St Monica's High School in Prestwich, Greater Manchester) are planning to ban HPV cervical cancer vaccinations for their female students. These vaccinations are believed to protect against the majority of cervical cancers by stopping the sexually transmitted papilloma virus. The jabs will save hundreds of lives every year.
The governors explained that the vaccination could "encourage sexual promiscuity". Threatening teenage sinners with cancer is apparently considered by the governors of St Monica's High as the best way to inculcate "virtuous behaviour" and "family values" into the new generations of women.
