A 17 year old British immigrant to the United States has been denied citizenship over her refusal to take the controversial HPV vaccine Gardasil, which is required of all female immigrants to the US.
Simone Davis, a devout Christian, says that she doesn't know why she should have to take the vaccine because she has taken a pledge to remain a virgin until marriage.
"I am only 17 years old and planning to go to college and not have sex anytime soon," she told ABC News. "There is no chance of getting cervical cancer, so there's no point in getting the shot."
Simone, who was abandoned by her mother while still a baby, now lives with her paternal grandmother, Jean Davis, in Port St. Joe, Fl. Davis was awarded legal custody of Simone in Great Britain when Simone was 3. When Jean immigrated to the United States in 2000, the adoption wasn't recognized until 2006. Now, Davis is seeking to make Simone a U.S. citizen.
Davis, who already has U.S. Citizenship, says that she is concerned about the safety of Gardasil for her granddaughter/adopted daughter.
"If I have a choice, I would choose no...for no risk," says Davis. "I am a citizen and I'm trying to do everything legally and correctly and this rule takes away my parental responsibility and takes away my choice."
"My choice to make an informed decision for the health of my child has been taken away ... How can they call this America, the land of the free? Where are my parental rights?"
Simone is also apprehensive about the safety of the HPV shot.
"I don't want to have that shot. I've read a lot of stories about it...a lot of stories with parents saying that their kids' lives have been ruined by the shot."
As LifeSiteNews has reported Gardasil has been linked to 47 deaths since its release in 2006. In 2008 alone, the FDA documented 6,723 "adverse events" related to Gardasil; 1,061 were considered "serious," and 142 considered "life threatening."
The National Vaccine Information Center's (NVIC) website lists arthralgia, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and seizures as adverse effects of the vaccine.
Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder of the NVIC, believes that nobody should be forced to receive a vaccination.
"We do not support requirements for vaccine use for anyone, whether they are a U.S. citizen or they are trying to become a U.S. citizen," Fisher told LifeSiteNews.
"The right to informed consent, to using a pharmaceutical product that carries the risk of injury or death is a human right, and this young woman should not be denied the right to become a U.S. citizen simply because she does not want to take the risk with an HPV vaccination."
Fisher says that tests like the Pap smear eliminate the need for the HPV vaccine. "There is no reason why any woman should be required to take this vaccine as a condition of becoming a U.S. citizen. HPV infection is almost entirely preventable with Pap smear screens, which have been a routine part of health care in the U.S. since the 1960's."
"It is absolutely unjustified to force women immigrants in this country to use a pharmaceutical product like Gardasil vaccine that carries risks that are not totally known yet."
For more information on Gardasil please visit: www.nvic.org
To voice your concern over this case, please contact the Texas Service Center of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is overseeing the case:
USCIS TSC
P.O. Box 850965
Mesquite, TX 751185-0965
tsc.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov
Contact: Matt Anderson
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: September 16, 2009
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