An Act To Decrease Cervical Cancer in Maine Girls

Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §6355, sub-§4  is enacted to read:

Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §1066  is enacted to read:

§ 1066.  Human papillomavirus vaccine information

No later than January 1, 2008, the department shall identify informational materials regarding the connection between human papillomavirus and cervical cancer and the availability, effectiveness and potential risks of the human papillomavirus vaccine. The materials must include, but are not limited to, the vaccine information statement for the human papillomavirus vaccine provided by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The department shall provide the materials to all family physicians and pediatricians licensed in the state and to all public and private schools in the State, as defined in Title 20-A, section 1, that provide grade 6 instruction. The department shall also post the materials on its publicly accessible website.

Sec. 3. Immunization against human papillomavirus. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education shall amend the rules regarding immunization requirements for school children to require, effective for the start of the 2008-2009 school year, that every female child entering grade 6 for the first time be immunized against the human papillomavirus. The rules must allow for an exemption from the human papillomavirus immunization requirement in accordance with the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 6355, subsection 4.

Sec. 4. Effective date. Section 1 of this Act takes effect August 1, 2008.

summary

This bill requires a female child entering grade 6 for the first time to be immunized against the human papillomavirus, the virus that causes cervical cancer. This requirement takes effect with the start of the 2008-2009 school year. The bill provides an exemption from this requirement for a child whose parent states in writing that the parent has received information provided by the Department of Health and Human Services regarding cervical cancer and the human papillomavirus and has chosen for the child not to receive the human papillomavirus vaccine. The bill requires that the department identify that information by January 1, 2008, make it available to family physicians, pediatricians and public and private schools that serve grade 6 and post the material on the department's publicly accessible website.