From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Medicine, mandates, and morality.

Hello again, I'm Orin Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

A report out today says

3.1 million American women are infected by the sexually transmitted papillomavirus, which can

cause cancer. Millions of others could be protected by a new vaccine administered before they're

sexually active. But Republican Governor Rick Perry has lit a political firestorm by making Texas the first state to require vaccination of sixth grade girls.

On to the point, is that an invitation to promiscuity as opponents claim?

How much is known about the long-term effects of the new vaccine?

We'll look at what's becoming a national controversy.

On reporter's notebook later on, the U.S. will talk with Iran.

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica

and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation

and the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation.

Hello again. Women, I'll be back with To the Point. To protect against a cancer-causing sexually

transmitted virus, the governor of Texas has ordered mandatory vaccination of young girls.

On To the Point, we'll look at a moral and medical controversy that could spread to at least

20 other states. On reporters' notebook, the U.S.

will sit down with Iran and Syria in regional talks about Iraq. Could that lead to diplomacy

...