Farrah Cancer Foundation President Alana Stewart Speaks Out on HPV Vaccine Controversy
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It has become a hot topic among the GOP Presidential candidates, with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann lashing out at Texas Gov. Rick Perry over his 2007 executive order that required Texas schoolgirls to receive vaccinations against the sexually transmitted HPV virus.
"To have innocent little 12-year-old girls be forced to have a government injection through an executive order is just flat out wrong," she said during last Monday’s debate.
The mandatory vaccine, which protects against some strains of the human papilloma virus, a contributing factor to some strains of cervical cancer, was provided at no cost to those who were not covered by insurance and included an opt-out provision for parents. The National Cancer Institute states that the FDA-approved vaccines are highly effective in preventing infections with HPV types 16 and 18, two high-risk HPVs that cause about 70 percent of cervical and anal cancers.
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However, actress/producer Alana Stewart, who is President of the Farrah Fawcett Foundation which seeks to provide funding for alternative cancer research, seems to be siding with Bachmann on the issue.
“I can only speak for myself, but it’s a very scary thing, and anything to do with underage children should be up to parents, not the government,” Stewart told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column at the "Give Back Hollywood's Farrah Fawcett Foundation Pre-Emmy Cancer Benefit. "I do think it is a good thing for parents to research because it is growing, and I think anything that can be done to prevent it is a good thing.”
Farrah Fawcett died of anal cancer.
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“Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Kyle Richards, who was also at the benefit, is skeptical of the vaccine all together.
“I have four daughters, I am very wary of that to be honest,” she said. “I am waiting until it has been out there a little bit longer. It makes me nervous, but I am waiting until we know more about it.”
Richards and her reality co-stars are still coming to terms with the recent suicide of Russell Armstrong, which prompted Bravo to hurriedly re-edit the Season Two premiere.
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“I think Bravo handled it very well and I’m proud of what they did,” she said. “It was a very difficult situation, but they handled it well.”
And expect the claws to come out when two new 90210 residents, including Eddie Cibrian’s ex-wife Brandi Glanville, join the lineup.
“I don’t know when they show up [in the season] actually, but some of us didn’t get along so well,” Richards said.