( A bill that would have required middle ...)Sponsor to Pull Measure Mandating HPV Vaccine,Health

A bill that would have required middle school girls in Maryland to be vaccinated against the virus that can cause cervical cancer is being shelved by its lead sponsor//.

Sen. Delores G. Kelley (D-Baltimore County) said yesterday that she plans today to withdraw legislation that would have mandated that young girls be vaccinated against human papillomavirus, or HPV, a sexually transmitted virus.

"It's a timing problem," Kelley said, without providing more details about her decision to pull the bill. She said that she would probably reintroduce the bill next session.

The legislation required sixth-grade girls to be vaccinated against HPV. The requirement would have gone into effect in September 2008.

Similar measures requiring the vaccination for girls as young as 11 and 12 are being considered in the District, Virginia, New Jersey and California.

Maryland's bill offers an exemption for religious, medical or philosophical reasons.

Kelley's bill had widespread support in the Senate, with nearly half of the senators signing on to the legislation. It had yet to be introduced in the House.

Yesterday, some of the co-sponsors said they were surprised to learn that Kelley was pulling the measure, even though, they said, they could understand her decision.

"There has been growing controversy about the vaccine," said Sen. Gwendolyn T. Britt (D-Prince George's), one of 21 senators who signed on to the measures. "Not about what it will accomplish, but the timeliness of it and the understanding of it being a mandate."

Britt said she received a couple of calls from parents and organizations criticizing the legislation, raising concerns that the vaccine might encourage promiscuity.

Cervical cancer afflicts almost 10,000 women a year in the United States and more than a third of them die from the disease. HPV affects 20 million Americans ages 15 to 49, but most people fight it off
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