The author reports on a Republican presidential debate which revives the contention over requiring middle school girls to be vaccinated against the virus that causes cervical cancer. At the September 12 debate, U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann, of Minnesota, and Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, attacked Texas Governor Rick Perry for a 2007 executive order he issued that would have required 6th grade girls to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, before starting school. They said the governor's mandate represented the government intruding into a decision best left to parents. The issue came up again at a debate in Orlando in which Governor Perry defended his actions, saying parents always had a choice in whether to get the vaccine for their daughters. His order was later overturned by the Texas legislature but, even if it had taken effect, Texas would not be the only state today with requirements on the books aimed at either requiring HPV vaccinations or some form of HPV-prevention education targeted to preteens. Virginia and the District of Columbia now require the vaccine for young girls, though many more states have considered and dropped the idea since the vaccine was first introduced in 2006.