When I took my 11 year old to the doctor a few weeks ago I was asked if I wanted her to have the Gardasil vaccine. I declined. End of story. Pero as we have been following here, mujeres who want to enter the United States don’t have the option of refusing the fairly new shot that is said to prevent the human papillomavirus, a cause of cervical cancer.

Continuing with the trend of using women of color bodies as test subjects, Mexico City is will begin to offer the vaccine for free on December 1st, targeting girls between 11-13.

Mexico City has invested 100 million pesos into the project, and hopes to vaccinate 105,000 young women.

The problem with this mass vaccine push that between the mandate on immigrant women in the U.S. and the move to effectively create a study group out of Mexican pre-teenagers, is that it follows in a long historic line of Latina women and their ability to reproduce being toyed with in the name of in some future bettering the health of others, namely white women. Most of the time there is no information about the vaccine given including possible side effects, making informed consent nonexistent. And let us not forget that the birth control pills that many women pop today, were first tested on women of color, including women in Puerto Rico. Early versions led to sterility, birth defects and other problems.

Pero it’s all in the name of science no? All in the name of the greater good if eventually we can end cervical cancer no? Even on the backs of immigrant women and Mexican women. How much weight do people expect our cuerpos to carry for everyone else?

Via / VivirMexico

Gracias a Sandina Robbins