Making Contact – Guard Us All? Immigrant Women and the HPV Vaccine

Gardasil is the first cervical cancer vaccine ever developed. After it was approved in 2006, controversy has surrounded this vaccine. Its safety and effectiveness have been questioned, and the requirement that immigrant women take the vaccine has come to the forefront of both immigrant rights and reproductive justice organizing.

These groups have also put this new vaccination requirement into a historical context. Advocates argue that this vaccine is a new chapter in a history of reproductive oppression that targets women of color and immigrant women.
On this edition, we look at the intersection of reproductive justice and immigrant rights. And we hear from activists, doctors, attorneys and women most affected by the new vaccination.

This program is made possible in part by The Reproductive Justice Fund at the Tides Foundation. Special thanks to The Winston Salem Journal for use of their audio from "Against Their Will" multi-media project.  Thanks to Sarah Olsen for her editorial guidance.

Featuring:
Fatima Querashi, Pakistani immigrant; Priscilla Huang, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum policy and programs director; Dr. Deblina Datta, CDC division of STD Prevention; Jessica Gonzales, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health director of policy and advocacy; Loretta Ross, SisterSong founding member; Beth Stickney, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project executive director and attorney; Woman client (name withheld for confidentiality and safety), immigrant from Chile; Nial Cox Ramirez, and Elaine Riddick Jessie, residents of North Carolina and subjects of sterilization.