Davis: STD Bill

The last week of session, I presided for the last time in the House since I will be term-limited out of this office.  Some people think the Speaker of the House is always presiding, but he can designate others to help with the task, especially since the hours we spend can be very lengthy.  My new motto is, "Walk softly, but carry a big gavel".

The Surprise STD Bill

While I feel very positive about the legislative accomplishments of this session, one of the most misguided bills that survived the legislative process will become law.  There's an old expression that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The last day of session the legislature sent a bill to the governor's desk that is like putting a band-aid on a gun shot wound and does nothing to actually solve the problem.  The root cause of many public healthcare issues stems from sexual promiscuity.  The cost for living an immoral lifestyle has an economic impact on our state, which ultimately costs the taxpayers.

Some call this the "Doggie Bag" bill or the "Promiscuous Partner" bill.  It is about "buy one, get one free" drugs to treat two sexually transmitted diseases. HB 1375 allows doctors to give out extra prescriptions to the sexual partner(s) who are too low to even show up at a free STD clinic and get their own prescription.  The state may pay for both the doctor visit and the drugs.  When this bill came through my Healthcare Policy Committee, I was successful in adding an amendment that would at least require the anonymous person to fill out a "health history" form.  This would disclose any known allergies.  The senate striped this provision out of the bill.

Attempting to remove more natural consequences yet, the senators added another section to the bill requiring the state to produce a brochure encouraging parents to get their children the HPV vaccine.  This is a vaccine for another STD.  Were it for people being responsible, faithful and moral, this would not have been a topic of discussion!  So the state's answer is to push the drug company's remedies so that people can get worse diseases that will not be cured with a simple pill or shot.  There is no drug ever made that can fix a broken heart or a broken conscience.

During the debate I argued that this vaccine has had some negative reactions and questioned why we are involving the state in part of the marketing strategy for private "For-Profit" companies.  If the drug companies want to sell more vaccines, they ought to be the ones promoting their products, not the government.  This is one difference between free markets and socialistic governments.

Why should the government be involved in promoting something that may harm our citizens? Follow this link to read an article on HPV vaccine deaths: safety-analysis

Good public policy is about standing up for what is right, not what is "politically popular".  Several other Representatives joined me in voting against this bill. Tom Dempsey from St. Charles also deserves credit for being one of seven Senators who did not support this bill.  However the majority of the General Assembly passed it.

So what is the ounce of cure?  The only real hope is for parents to teach their children the benefits of chastity.

Your thoughts are important to me, so please let me know what you think about the STD bill that is now the desk of the governor. You can send me your opinion by clicking here: Cynthia Davis

Memorial Day

On Friday, May 28, I will be speaking at the Memorial Day Ceremony at Logan College of Chiropractic in Chesterfield, Missouri.  I urge you to attend a Memorial Day service this weekend.  While barbeques and family gatherings are important, it will add to the richness of your weekend to take some time to demonstrate gratitude for those who died serving our country so that we could enjoy life, liberties and pursuit of happiness.

A Little Bit of Humor . . .

This is cooler than the terrorist fist bump, no?

Photo source: Doctors learn elbow greeting to lower swine flu risk