The Bill I testified before the Florida House would have made it "mandatory" for all girls entering the 9th grade and would have been covered under the Free Shots for Florida program meaning that if the girl's shots were not covered by insurance and the parents couldn't afford them, Florida would pick up the tab. The Bill also had an "opt out" feature that allowed any parent to opt out of the shots for any reason whatsoever. A seemingly NO BRAINER that would have given free vaccine shots for those that wanted them and couldn't afford them and would not require them for parents that didn't want them for their daughters. There were 10 speakers who spoke in favor of the Bill including the American Cancer Society, the President of the Florida GYN Association, the Chairman of the Pinellas County Infectious Disease Dept and a HPV cancer researcher from Moffitt Cancer Center. Not one person spoke in opposition to it but it was defeated strictly along party lines lead by the conservative Republicans who controlled the House.

What the Republicans did allow to be passed was a Bill that called for notices to be given to students beginning in 2010 to carry home to their parents (with no signature required by the parents or any proof that the parent even got the notice) that would say that there MAY BE a HPV connection to cervical cancer and that there was a vaccine that claims to be responsive to that virus. Note that it would also not be available for free to those that still wanted it but couldn't afford it.