HPV Vaccine is REQUIRED for school attendance in the District of Columbia.

Holy frijoles.

I live in Northern Virginia, so my TV channels are out of D.C. I just saw a commercial that was not only touting the HPV vaccine, but stated that it is required by schools in the District for all teenagers.

This is horrifying.

Forget about the fact that there is documented proof that the HPV vaccine has serious risks. How about the fact that parents should have the right to determine whether their child gets a vaccine that they do not need?

I am not an anti-vaxxer. My child is vaccinated. My children will be vaccinated for anything they can catch from airborne transmission and casual contact with other people. HPV, on the other hand, is transmitted through sexual contact. My duty as a parent is to teach my children about the morality of sex, the risks and dangers of sex, and the joy that is sex -- within a marriage.

I traversed my teens and twenties during the meteoric rise of the incidence of HPV. I have friends who have HPV. I probably have more friends with HPV than who know they have HPV.

I, on the other hand, was abstinent until I was married. I not only do not have HPV, but I've never in my life had to worry about whether I had HPV. Or chlamydia. Or an crisis pregnancy. And it's not because my mom shot me up with a vaccine -- which was available -- but instead it's because my parents taught me to respect myself.

My children will never attend schools in the District of Columbia. And if this requirement should make its way to the locality where we reside, it's looking more and more sure that they will not be attending any school other than the one I establish in my home.